Surface acoustic wave induced transport and strain phenomena in van der Waals materials

Surface acoustic waves, the microcosmic cousins of seismic waves, can be generated and precisely controlled on a microscopic scale by applying a periodic electrical signal to a piezoelectric substrate. Harnessing and exploring their interactions with two-dimensional van der Waals (vdW) systems opens new frontiers in materials science and engineering. As part of a special issue on these guided elastic waves for hybrid nano- and quantum technologies, our review highlights work focusing on acoustically-induced transport phenomena at low temperatures that arise from the interaction between the surface acoustic waves in a piezoelectric substrate and a vdW material on its surface. A main focus is on technological methods to control the carrier concentration in transport and strain-related effects that can act on the carrier motion as an effective magnetic field.