No Arabic abstract
Moire superlattices created by the twisted stacking of two-dimensional crystalline monolayers can host electronic bands with flat energy dispersion in which interaction among electrons is strongly enhanced. These superlattices can also create non-trivial electronic band topologies making them a platform for study of many-body topological quantum states. Among the moire systems realized to date, there are those predicted to have band structures and properties which can be controlled with a perpendicular electric field. The twisted double bilayer graphene (TDBG), where two Bernal bilayer graphene are stacked with a twist angle, is such a tunable moire system, for which partial filling of its flat band, transport studies have found correlated insulating states. Here we use gate-tuned scanning tunneling spectroscopy (GT-STS) to directly demonstrate the tunability of the band structure of TDBG with an electric field and to show spectroscopic signatures of both electronic correlations and topology for its flat band. Our spectroscopic experiments show excellent agreement with a continuum model of TDBG band structure and reveal signatures of a correlated insulator gap at partial filling of its isolated flat band. The topological properties of this flat band are probed with the application of a magnetic field, which leads to valley polarization and the splitting of Chern bands that respond strongly to the field with a large effective g-factor. Our experiments advance our understanding of the properties of TDBG and set the stage for further investigations of correlation and topology in such tunable moire systems.
Tailoring electron transfer dynamics across solid-liquid interfaces is fundamental to the interconversion of electrical and chemical energy. Stacking atomically thin layers with a very small azimuthal misorientation to produce moire superlattices enables the controlled engineering of electronic band structures and the formation of extremely flat electronic bands. Here, we report a strong twist angle dependence of heterogeneous charge transfer kinetics at twisted bilayer graphene electrodes with the greatest enhancement observed near the magic angle (~1.1 degrees). This effect is driven by the angle-dependent tuning of moire-derived flat bands that modulate electron transfer processes with the solution-phase redox couple. Combined experimental and computational analysis reveals that the variation in electrochemical activity with moire angle is controlled by atomic reconstruction of the moire superlattice at twist angles <2 degrees, and topological defect AA stacking regions produce a large anomalous local electrochemical enhancement that cannot be accounted for by the elevated local density of states alone. Our results introduce moire flat band materials as a distinctively tunable paradigm for mediating electrochemical transformations.
The notion of an electronic flat band refers to a collectively degenerate set of quantum mechanical eigenstates in periodic solids. The vanishing kinetic energy of flat bands relative to the electron-electron interaction is expected to result in a variety of many-body quantum phases of matter. Despite intense theoretical interest, systematic design and experimental realization of such flat band-driven correlated states in natural crystals have remained a challenge. Here we report the realization of a partially filled flat band in a new single crystalline kagome metal Ni$_3$In. This flat band is found to arise from the Ni $3d$-orbital wave functions localized at triangular motifs within the kagome lattice plane, where an underlying destructive interference among hopping paths flattens the dispersion. We observe unusual metallic and thermodynamic responses suggestive of the presence of local fluctuating magnetic moments originating from the flat band states, which together with non-Fermi liquid behavior indicate proximity to quantum criticality. These results demonstrate a lattice and orbital engineering approach to designing flat band-based many-body phenomena that may be applied to integrate correlation with topology and as a novel means to construct quantum criticality.
We address the problem of hybridization between topological surface states and a non-topological flat bulk band. Our model, being a mixture of three-dimensional Bernevig-Hughes-Zhang and two-dimensional pseudospin-1 Hamiltonian, allows explicit treatment of the topological surface state evolution by continuously changing the hybridization between the inverted bands and an additional parasitic flat band in the bulk. We show that the hybridization with a flat band lying below the edge of conduction band converts the initial Dirac-like surface states into a branch below and one above the flat band. Our results univocally demonstrate that the upper branch of the topological surface states is formed by Dyakonov-Khaetskii surface states known for HgTe since the 1980s. Additionally we explore an evolution of the surface states and the arising of Fermi arcs in Dirac semimetals when the flat band crosses the conduction band.
We theoretically study the effect of magnetic moire superlattice on the topological surface states by introducing a continuum model of Dirac electrons with a single Dirac cone moving in the time-reversal symmetry breaking periodic pontential. The Zeeman-type moire potentials generically gap out the moire surface Dirac cones and give rise to isolated flat Chern minibands with Chern number $pm1$. This result provides a promising platform for realizing the time-reversal breaking correlated topological phases. In a $C_6$ periodic potential, when the scalar $U_0$ and Zeeman $Delta_1$ moire potential strengths are equal to each other, we find that energetically the first three bands of $Gamma$-valley moire surface electrons are non-degenerate and realize i) an $s$-orbital model on a honeycomb lattice, ii) a degenerate $p_x,p_y$-orbitals model on a honeycomb lattice, and iii) a hybridized $sd^2$-orbital model on a kagome lattice, where moire surface Dirac cones in these bands emerge. When $U_0 eqDelta_1$, the difference between the two moire potential serves as an effective spin-orbit coupling and opens a topological gap in the emergent moire surface Dirac cones.
Twisting van der Waals heterostructures to induce correlated many-body states provides a novel tuning mechanism in solid-state physics. In this work, we theoretically investigate the fate of the surface Dirac cone of a three-dimensional topological insulator subject to a superlattice potential. Using a combination of diagrammatic perturbation theory, lattice model simulations, and ab initio calculations we elucidate the unique aspects of twisting a single Dirac cone with an induced moire potential and the role of the bulk topology on the reconstructed surface band structure. We report a dramatic renormalization of the surface Dirac cone velocity as well as demonstrate a topological obstruction to the formation of isolated minibands. Due to the topological nature of the bulk, surface band gaps cannot open; instead, additional satellite Dirac cones emerge, which can be highly anisotropic and made quite flat. We discuss the implications of our findings for future experiments.