Engineering Three-Dimensional Moiré Flat Bands

Nano Letters, vol. 21, pp. 7519–7526

Abstract

High Resolution Image Download MS PowerPoint Slide Twisting two adjacent layers of van der Waals materials with respect to each other can lead to flat two-dimensional electronic bands which enables a wealth of physical phenomena. Here, we generalize this concept of so-called moiré flat bands to engineer flat bands in all three spatial dimensions controlled by the twist angle. The basic concept is to stack the material such that the large spatial moiré interference patterns are spatially shifted from one twisted layer to the next. We exemplify the general concept by considering graphitic systems, boron nitride, and WSe 2, but the approach is applicable to any two-dimensional van der Waals material. For hexagonal boron nitride, we develop an ab initio fitted tight binding model that captures the corresponding three-dimensional low-energy electronic structure. We outline that interesting three-dimensional correlated phases of matter can be induced and controlled following this route, including quantum magnets and unconventional superconducting states.

Authors 6

1. Lede Xian

   Songshan Lake Materials Laboratory · Center for Free-Electron Laser Science · Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter

   Affiliation as printed

   Center for Free Electron Laser Science, Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, 22761 Hamburg, Germany

   Songshan Lake Materials Laboratory, 523808 Dongguan, Guangdong China

2. Ammon Fischer Aachen Institut für Theorie der Statistischen Physik

   Jülich Aachen Research Alliance · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institut für Theorie der Statistischen Physik, RWTH Aachen University and JARA-Fundamentals of Future Information Technology, 52056 Aachen, Germany

3. Martin Claassen

   University of Pennsylvania

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, United States

4. Jin Zhang

   Center for Free-Electron Laser Science · Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter

   Affiliation as printed

   Center for Free Electron Laser Science, Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, 22761 Hamburg, Germany

5. Ángel Rubio corresponding

   University of the Basque Country · Simons Foundation · Center for Free-Electron Laser Science · Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter · Flatiron Institute

   Affiliation as printed

   Center for Computational Quantum Physics, Simons Foundation Flatiron Institute, New York, New York 10010 United States

   Center for Free Electron Laser Science, Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, 22761 Hamburg, Germany

   Nano-Bio Spectroscopy Group, Departamento de Fisica de Materiales, Universidad del País Vasco, UPV/EHU- 20018 San Sebastián, Spain

6. Dante Marvin Kennes corresponding Aachen Institut für Theorie der Statistischen Physik

   Jülich Aachen Research Alliance · Center for Free-Electron Laser Science · Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Center for Free Electron Laser Science, Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, 22761 Hamburg, Germany

   Institut für Theorie der Statistischen Physik, RWTH Aachen University and JARA-Fundamentals of Future Information Technology, 52056 Aachen, Germany