Figure 4.

Binding energies for MoS₂ and sapphire. Data are shown as a 3D surface and contour plot of relative binding energies for MoS₂ on sapphire, for different relative lattice orientations and as a function of relative shift in x- and y-directions, corresponding to the lateral motion of the MoS₂ monolayer on the surface of atomically smooth sapphire. Only the 0° and 60° orientations result in significant corrugation and substantial stable minima. The distance between MoS₂ and sapphire is 3.24 Å, as obtained from DFT calculations.