We present infrared spectra (0.1-1 eV) of electrostatically gated bilayer graphene as a function of doping and compare it with tight binding calculations. All major spectral features corresponding to the expected interband transitions are identified in the spectra: a strong peak due to transitions between parallel split-off bands and two onset-like features due to transitions between valence and conduction bands. A strong gate voltage dependence of these structures and a significant electron-hole asymmetry is observed that we use to extract several band parameters. Surprisingly, the structures related to the gate-induced bandgap are much less pronounced in the experiment than predicted by the tight binding model.
Monolayer graphene placed with a twist on top of AB-stacked bilayer graphene hosts topological flat bands in a wide range of twist angles. The dispersion of these bands and gaps between them can be efficiently controlled by a perpendicular electric field, which induces topological transitions accompanied by changes of the Chern numbers. In the regime where the applied electric field induces gaps between the flat bands, we find a relatively uniform distribution of the Berry curvature. Consequently, interaction-induced valley- and/or spin-polarized states at integer filling factors are energetically favorable. In particular, we predict a quantum anomalous Hall state at filling factor $ u=1$ for a range of twist angles $1^circ<theta <1.4^circ$. Furthermore, to characterize the response of the system to magnetic field, we computed the Hofstadter butterfly and the Wannier plot, which can be used to probe the dispersion and topology of the flat bands in this material.
Transport experiments in twisted bilayer graphene revealed multiple superconducting domes separated by correlated insulating states. These properties are generally associated with strongly correlated states in a flat mini-band of the hexagonal moire superlattice as it was predicted by band structure calculations. Evidence for such a flat band comes from local tunneling spectroscopy and electronic compressibility measurements, reporting two or more sharp peaks in the density of states that may be associated with closely spaced van Hove singularities. Direct momentum resolved measurements proved difficult though. Here, we combine different imaging techniques and angle resolved photoemission with simultaneous real and momentum space resolution (nano-ARPES) to directly map the band dispersion in twisted bilayer graphene devices near charge neutrality. Our experiments reveal large areas with homogeneous twist angle that support a flat band with spectral weight that is highly localized in momentum space. The flat band is separated from the dispersive Dirac bands which show multiple moire hybridization gaps. These data establish the salient features of the twisted bilayer graphene band structure.
The discovery of interaction-driven insulating and superconducting phases in moire van der Waals heterostructures has sparked considerable interest in understanding the novel correlated physics of these systems. While a significant number of studies have focused on twisted bilayer graphene, correlated insulating states and a superconductivity-like transition up to 12 K have been reported in recent transport measurements of twisted double bilayer graphene. Here we present a scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy study of gate-tunable twisted double bilayer graphene devices. We observe splitting of the van Hove singularity peak by ~20 meV at half-filling of the conduction flat band, with a corresponding reduction of the local density of states at the Fermi level. By mapping the tunneling differential conductance we show that this correlated system exhibits energetically split states that are spatially delocalized throughout the different regions in the moire unit cell, inconsistent with order originating solely from onsite Coulomb repulsion within strongly-localized orbitals. We have performed self-consistent Hartree-Fock calculations that suggest exchange-driven spontaneous symmetry breaking in the degenerate conduction flat band is the origin of the observed correlated state. Our results provide new insight into the nature of electron-electron interactions in twisted double bilayer graphene and related moire systems.
Graphene-based moir{e} systems have attracted considerable interest in recent years as they display a remarkable variety of correlated phenomena. Besides insulating and superconducting phases in the vicinity of integer fillings of the moir{e} unit cell, there is growing evidence for electronic nematic order both in twisted bilayer graphene and twisted double-bilayer graphene (tDBG), as signaled by the spontaneous breaking of the threefold rotational symmetry of the moir{e} superlattices. Here, we combine symmetry-based analysis with a microscopic continuum model to investigate the structure of the nematic phase of tDBG and its experimental manifestations. First, we perform a detailed comparison between the theoretically calculated local density of states and recent scanning tunneling microscopy data [arXiv:2009.11645] to resolve the internal structure of the nematic order parameter in terms of the layer, sublattice, spin, and valley degrees of freedom. We find strong evidence that the dominant contribution to the nematic order parameter comes from states at the moir{e} scale rather than at the microscopic scale of the individual graphene layers, which demonstrates the key role played by the moire degrees of freedom and confirms the correlated nature of the nematic phase in tDBG. Secondly, our analysis reveals an unprecedented tunability of the orientation of the nematic director in tDBG by an externally applied electric field, allowing the director to rotate away from high-symmetry crystalline directions. We compute the expected fingerprints of this rotation in both STM and transport experiments, providing feasible ways to probe it. Rooted in the strong sensitivity of the flat bands of tDBG to the displacement field, this effect opens an interesting route to the electrostatic control of electronic nematicity in moir{e} systems.
The charge susceptibility of twisted bilayer graphene is investigated in the Dirac cone, respectively random-phase approximation. For small enough twist angles $thetalesssim 2^circ$ we find weakly Landau damped interband plasmons, i.~e., collective excitonic modes which exist in the undoped material, with an almost constant energy dispersion. In this regime, the loss function can be described as a Fano resonance and we argue that these excitations arise from the interaction of quasi-localised states with the incident light field. These predictions can be tested by nano-infrared imaging and possible applications include a perfect lens without the need of left-handed materials.