Correlated Insulating States at Fractional Fillings of the WS2/WSe2 Moire Lattice


Abstract in English

Moire superlattices of van der Waals materials, such as twisted graphene and transitional metal dichalcogenides, have recently emerged as a fascinating platform to study strongly correlated states in two dimensions, thanks to the strong electron interaction in the moire minibands. In most systems, the correlated states appear when the moire lattice is filled by integer number of electrons per moire unit cell. Recently, correlated states at fractional fillings of 1/3 and 2/3 holes per moire unit cell has been reported in the WS2/WSe2 heterobilayer, hinting the long range nature of the electron interaction. In this work, employing a scanning microwave impedance microscopy technique that is sensitive to local electrical properties, we observe a series of correlated insulating states at fractional fillings of the moire minibands on both electron- and hole-doped sides in angle-aligned WS2/WSe2 hetero-bilayers, with certain states persisting at temperatures up to 120 K. Monte Carlo simulations reveal that these insulating states correspond to ordering of electrons in the moire lattice with a periodicity much larger than the moire unit cell, indicating a surprisingly strong and long-range interaction beyond the nearest neighbors. Our findings usher in unprecedented opportunities in the study of strongly correlated states in two dimensions.

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