Fractional Chern Insulator in Twisted Bilayer MoTe$_2$

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Wang, Chong, Zhang, Xiao-Wei, Liu, Xiaoyu, He, Yuchi, Xu, Xiaodong, Ran, Ying, Cao, Ting, Xiao, Di
Format: Preprint
Published: 2023
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_version_ 1866909162554785792
author Wang, Chong
Zhang, Xiao-Wei
Liu, Xiaoyu
He, Yuchi
Xu, Xiaodong
Ran, Ying
Cao, Ting
Xiao, Di
author_facet Wang, Chong
Zhang, Xiao-Wei
Liu, Xiaoyu
He, Yuchi
Xu, Xiaodong
Ran, Ying
Cao, Ting
Xiao, Di
contents A recent experiment has reported the first observation of a zero-field fractional Chern insulator (FCI) phase in twisted bilayer MoTe$_2$ moiré superlattices [Nature 622, 63-68 (2023)]. The experimental observation is at an unexpected large twist angle 3.7$^\circ$ and calls for a better understanding of the FCI in real materials. In this work, we perform large-scale density functional theory calculation for the twisted bilayer MoTe$_2$, and find that lattice reconstruction is crucial for the appearance of an isolated flat Chern band. The existence of the FCI state at $ν= -2/3$ are confirmed by exact diagonalization. We establish phase diagrams with respect to the twist angle and electron interaction, which reveal an optimal twist angle of $3.5^\circ$ for the observation of FCI. We further demonstrate that an external electric field can destroy the FCI state by changing band geometry and show evidence of the $ν=-3/5$ FCI state in this system. Our research highlights the importance of accurate single particle band structure in the quest for strong correlated electronic states and provides insights into engineering fractional Chern insulator in moiré superlattices.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2304_11864
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Fractional Chern Insulator in Twisted Bilayer MoTe$_2$
Wang, Chong
Zhang, Xiao-Wei
Liu, Xiaoyu
He, Yuchi
Xu, Xiaodong
Ran, Ying
Cao, Ting
Xiao, Di
Strongly Correlated Electrons
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
Materials Science
A recent experiment has reported the first observation of a zero-field fractional Chern insulator (FCI) phase in twisted bilayer MoTe$_2$ moiré superlattices [Nature 622, 63-68 (2023)]. The experimental observation is at an unexpected large twist angle 3.7$^\circ$ and calls for a better understanding of the FCI in real materials. In this work, we perform large-scale density functional theory calculation for the twisted bilayer MoTe$_2$, and find that lattice reconstruction is crucial for the appearance of an isolated flat Chern band. The existence of the FCI state at $ν= -2/3$ are confirmed by exact diagonalization. We establish phase diagrams with respect to the twist angle and electron interaction, which reveal an optimal twist angle of $3.5^\circ$ for the observation of FCI. We further demonstrate that an external electric field can destroy the FCI state by changing band geometry and show evidence of the $ν=-3/5$ FCI state in this system. Our research highlights the importance of accurate single particle band structure in the quest for strong correlated electronic states and provides insights into engineering fractional Chern insulator in moiré superlattices.
title Fractional Chern Insulator in Twisted Bilayer MoTe$_2$
topic Strongly Correlated Electrons
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
Materials Science
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2304.11864