By atomistic modeling of moir{\'e} patterns of graphene on a substrate with a small lattice mismatch, we find qualitatively different strain distributions for small and large misorientation angles, corresponding to the commensurate-incommensurate transition recently observed in graphene on hexagonal BN. We find that the ratio of C-N and C-B interactions is the main parameter determining the different bond lengths in the center and edges of the moir{\'e} pattern. Agreement with experimental data is obtained only by assuming that the C-B interactions are at least twice weaker than the C-N interactions. The correspondence between the strain distribution in the nanoscale moir{\'e} pattern and the potential energy surface at the atomic scale found in our calculations, makes the moir{\'e} pattern a tool to study details of dispersive forces in van der Waals heterostructures.
@article{arxiv.1407.2813,
title = {Moir{\'e} patterns as a probe of interplanar interactions: graphene on h-BN},
author = {M. M. van Wijk and A. Schuring and M. I. Katsnelson and A. Fasolino},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1407.2813},
year = {2015}
}