DOE PAGES title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Emergence of flat-band magnetism and half-metallicity in twisted bilayer graphene

Abstract

Evidence of flat-band magnetism and half-metallicity in compressed twisted bilayer graphene is provided with first-principles calculations. In this article, we show that dynamic band-structure engineering in twisted bilayer graphene is possible by controlling the chemical composition with extrinsic doping, the interlayer coupling strength with pressure, and the magnetic ordering with external electric field. By varying the rotational order and reducing the interlayer separation, an unbalanced distribution of charge density results in the spontaneous apparition of localized magnetic moments without disrupting the structural integrity of the bilayer. Weak exchange correlation between magnetic moments is estimated in large unit cells. External electric field switches the local magnetic ordering from ferromagnetic to antiferromagnetic. Substitutional doping shifts the chemical potential of one spin distribution and leads to half-metallicity. Lastly, flakes of compressed twisted bilayer graphene exhibit spontaneous magnetization, demonstrating that correlation between magnetic moments is not a necessary condition for their formation.

Authors:
ORCiD logo [1]
  1. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
OSTI Identifier:
1529544
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1518502
Report Number(s):
LA-UR-19-21862
Journal ID: ISSN 2475-9953; PRMHAR
Grant/Contract Number:  
89233218CNA000001
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Physical Review Materials
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 3; Journal Issue: 5; Journal ID: ISSN 2475-9953
Publisher:
American Physical Society (APS)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; Bilayer graphene; Magnetism; DFT

Citation Formats

Lopez-Bezanilla, Alejandro. Emergence of flat-band magnetism and half-metallicity in twisted bilayer graphene. United States: N. p., 2019. Web. doi:10.1103/PhysRevMaterials.3.054003.
Lopez-Bezanilla, Alejandro. Emergence of flat-band magnetism and half-metallicity in twisted bilayer graphene. United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevMaterials.3.054003
Lopez-Bezanilla, Alejandro. Tue . "Emergence of flat-band magnetism and half-metallicity in twisted bilayer graphene". United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevMaterials.3.054003. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1529544.
@article{osti_1529544,
title = {Emergence of flat-band magnetism and half-metallicity in twisted bilayer graphene},
author = {Lopez-Bezanilla, Alejandro},
abstractNote = {Evidence of flat-band magnetism and half-metallicity in compressed twisted bilayer graphene is provided with first-principles calculations. In this article, we show that dynamic band-structure engineering in twisted bilayer graphene is possible by controlling the chemical composition with extrinsic doping, the interlayer coupling strength with pressure, and the magnetic ordering with external electric field. By varying the rotational order and reducing the interlayer separation, an unbalanced distribution of charge density results in the spontaneous apparition of localized magnetic moments without disrupting the structural integrity of the bilayer. Weak exchange correlation between magnetic moments is estimated in large unit cells. External electric field switches the local magnetic ordering from ferromagnetic to antiferromagnetic. Substitutional doping shifts the chemical potential of one spin distribution and leads to half-metallicity. Lastly, flakes of compressed twisted bilayer graphene exhibit spontaneous magnetization, demonstrating that correlation between magnetic moments is not a necessary condition for their formation.},
doi = {10.1103/PhysRevMaterials.3.054003},
journal = {Physical Review Materials},
number = 5,
volume = 3,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue May 28 00:00:00 EDT 2019},
month = {Tue May 28 00:00:00 EDT 2019}
}

Journal Article:

Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 8 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

Save / Share:

Works referenced in this record:

Two-dimensional van der Waals materials
journal, September 2016

  • Ajayan, Pulickel; Kim, Philip; Banerjee, Kaustav
  • Physics Today, Vol. 69, Issue 9
  • DOI: 10.1063/PT.3.3297

Lattice relaxation and energy band modulation in twisted bilayer graphene
journal, August 2017


Unconventional superconductivity in magic-angle graphene superlattices
journal, March 2018


Correlated insulator behaviour at half-filling in magic-angle graphene superlattices
journal, March 2018


Theory of Phonon-Mediated Superconductivity in Twisted Bilayer Graphene
journal, December 2018


Kohn-Luttinger Superconductivity in Twisted Bilayer Graphene
journal, January 2019


The nature of correlations in the insulating states of twisted bilayer graphene
journal, March 2019

  • Pizarro, J. M.; Calderón, M. J.; Bascones, E.
  • Journal of Physics Communications, Vol. 3, Issue 3
  • DOI: 10.1088/2399-6528/ab0fa9

Doped Twisted Bilayer Graphene near Magic Angles: Proximity to Wigner Crystallization, Not Mott Insulation
journal, September 2018


Dynamic band-structure tuning of graphene moiré superlattices with pressure
journal, May 2018


Tuning superconductivity in twisted bilayer graphene
journal, January 2019


Pressure-induced magnetism in rotated graphene bilayers
journal, January 2019


Missing Atom as a Source of Carbon Magnetism
journal, March 2010


Upper Bound for the Magnetic Force Gradient in Graphite
journal, December 2010


Two theorems on the Hubbard model
journal, March 1989


Electrically Controllable Magnetism in Twisted Bilayer Graphene
journal, September 2017


Self-consistent order- N density-functional calculations for very large systems
journal, April 1996


The SIESTA method for ab initio order- N materials simulation
journal, March 2002

  • Soler, José M.; Artacho, Emilio; Gale, Julian D.
  • Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter, Vol. 14, Issue 11
  • DOI: 10.1088/0953-8984/14/11/302

Efficient Implementation of a van der Waals Density Functional: Application to Double-Wall Carbon Nanotubes
journal, August 2009


Density functional calculations on the intricacies of Moiré patterns on graphite
journal, June 2007


Graphene Bilayer with a Twist: Electronic Structure
journal, December 2007

  • Lopes dos Santos, J. M. B.; Peres, N. M. R.; Castro Neto, A. H.
  • Physical Review Letters, Vol. 99, Issue 25
  • DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.99.256802

Twisted Bilayer Graphene: Moiré with a Twist
journal, August 2016


Pressure dependence of the magic twist angle in graphene superlattices
journal, August 2018


Charge Carriers in Few-Layer Graphene Films
journal, July 2006


Massless fermions in multilayer graphitic systems with misoriented layers: Ab initio calculations and experimental fingerprints
journal, November 2007


Numerical studies of confined states in rotated bilayers of graphene
journal, September 2012


Localization of Dirac Electrons in Rotated Graphene Bilayers
journal, March 2010

  • Trambly de Laissardière, G.; Mayou, D.; Magaud, L.
  • Nano Letters, Vol. 10, Issue 3
  • DOI: 10.1021/nl902948m

Skyrmions in the Moiré of van der Waals 2D Magnets
journal, October 2018


Direct observation of a widely tunable bandgap in bilayer graphene
journal, June 2009

  • Zhang, Yuanbo; Tang, Tsung-Ta; Girit, Caglar
  • Nature, Vol. 459, Issue 7248
  • DOI: 10.1038/nature08105

Works referencing / citing this record:

Electrically Tunable Flat Bands and Magnetism in Twisted Bilayer Graphene
text, January 2019