When a crystal is subjected to a periodic potential, under certain circumstances it can adjust
itself to follow the periodicity of the potential, resulting in a commensurate state. Of particular
interest are topological defects between the two commensurate phases, such as solitons
and domain walls. Here we report a commensurate–incommensurate transition for
graphene on top of hexagonal boron nitride (hBN). Depending on the rotation angle
between the lattices of the two crystals, graphene can either stretch to adapt to a slightly …

When a crystal is subjected to a periodic potential, under certain circumstances it can adjust
itself to follow the periodicity of the potential, resulting in a commensurate state. Of particular
interest are topological defects between the two commensurate phases, such as solitons
and domain walls. Here we report a commensurate–incommensurate transition for
graphene on top of hexagonal boron nitride (hBN). Depending on the rotation angle
between the lattices of the two crystals, graphene can either stretch to adapt to a slightly di …