No Arabic abstract
Trilayer graphene with a twisted middle layer has recently emerged as a new platform exhibiting correlated phases and superconductivity near its magic angle. A detailed characterization of its electronic structure in the parameter space of twist angle $theta$, interlayer potential difference $Delta$, and top-bottom layer stacking $tau$ reveals that flat bands with large Coulomb energy vs bandwidth $U/W > 1$ are expected within a range of $pm 0.2^{circ}$ near $theta simeq1.5^{circ}$ and $theta simeq1.2^{circ}$ for $tau_{rm AA}$ top-bottom layer stacking, between a wider $1^{circ} sim 1.7^{circ}$ range for $tau_{rm AB}$ stacking, whose bands often have finite valley Chern numbers thanks to the opening of primary and secondary band gaps in the presence of a finite $Delta$, and below $theta lesssim 0.6^{circ}$ for all $tau$ considered. The largest $U/W$ ratios are expected at the magic angle $sim 1.5^{circ}$ when $|Delta| sim 0$~meV for AA, and slightly below near $sim 1.4^{circ}$ for finite $|Delta| sim 25$~meV for AB stackings, and near $theta sim 0.4^{circ}$ for both stackings. When ${tau}$ is the saddle point stacking vector between AB and BA we observe pronounced anisotropic local density of states (LDOS) strip patterns with broken triangular rotational symmetry. We present optical conductivity calculations that reflect the changes in the electronic structure introduced by the stacking and gate tunable system parameters.
We investigate the band structure of twisted monolayer-bilayer graphene (tMBG), or twisted graphene on bilayer graphene (tGBG), as a function of twist angles and perpendicular electric fields in search of optimum conditions for achieving isolated nearly flat bands. Narrow bandwidths comparable or smaller than the effective Coulomb energies satisfying $U_{textrm{eff}} /W gtrsim 1$ are expected for twist angles in the range of $0.3^{circ} sim 1.5^{circ}$, more specifically in islands around $theta sim 0.5^{circ}, , 0.85^{circ}, ,1.3^{circ}$ for appropriate perpendicular electric field magnitudes and directions. The valley Chern numbers of the electron-hole asymmetric bands depend intrinsically on the details of the hopping terms in the bilayer graphene, and extrinsically on factors like electric fields or average staggered potentials in the graphene layer aligned with the contacting hexagonal boron nitride substrate. This tunability of the band isolation, bandwidth, and valley Chern numbers makes of tMBG a more versatile system than twisted bilayer graphene for finding nearly flat bands prone to strong correlations.
We investigate the electronic structure of the flat bands induced by moire superlattices and electric fields in nearly aligned ABC trilayer graphene-boron nitride interfaces where Coulomb effects can lead to correlated gapped phases. Our calculations indicate that valley-spin resolved isolated superlattice flat bands that carry a finite Chern number $C = 3$ proportional to layer number can appear near charge neutrality for appropriate perpendicular electric fields and twist angles. When the degeneracy of the bands is lifted by Coulomb interactions these topological bands can lead to anomalous quantum Hall phases that embody orbital and spin magnetism. Narrow bandwidths of $sim10$ meV achievable for a continuous range of twist angles $theta lesssim 0.6^{circ}$ with moderate interlayer potential differences of $sim$50 meV make the TLG/BN systems a promising platform for the study of electric-field tunable Coulomb interaction driven spontaneous Hall phases.
We present electronic structure calculations of twisted double bilayer graphene (TDBG): A tetralayer graphene structure composed of two AB-stacked graphene bilayers with a relative rotation angle between them. Using first-principles calculations, we find that TDBG is semiconducting with a band gap that depends on the twist angle, that can be tuned by an external electric field. The gap is consistent with TDBG symmetry and its magnitude is related to surface effects, driving electron transfer from outer to inner layers. The surface effect competes with an energy upshift of localized states at inner layers, giving rise to the peculiar angle dependence of the band gap, which reduces at low angles. For these low twist angles, the TDBG develops flat bands, in which electrons in the inner layers are localized at the AA regions, as in twisted bilayer graphene.
Twisted graphene bilayers provide a versatile platform to engineer metamaterials with novel emergent properties by exploiting the resulting geometric moir{e} superlattice. Such superlattices are known to host bulk valley currents at tiny angles ($alphaapprox 0.3 ^circ$) and flat bands at magic angles ($alpha approx 1^circ$). We show that tuning the twist angle to $alpha^*approx 0.8^circ$ generates flat bands away from charge neutrality with a triangular superlattice periodicity. When doped with $pm 6$ electrons per moire cell, these bands are half-filled and electronic interactions produce a symmetry-broken ground state (Stoner instability) with spin-polarized regions that order ferromagnetically. Application of an interlayer electric field breaks inversion symmetry and introduces valley-dependent dispersion that quenches the magnetic order. With these results, we propose a solid-state platform that realizes electrically tunable strong correlations.
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.