Enhanced correlations and superconductivity in weakly interacting partially flat-band systems: A determinantal quantum Monte Carlo study

Huang, Edwin W.; Vaezi, Mohammad-Sadegh; Nussinov, Zohar; Vaezi, Abolhassan

doi:10.1103/physrevb.99.235128

Title: Enhanced correlations and superconductivity in weakly interacting partially flat-band systems: A determinantal quantum Monte Carlo study

Journal Article · 13 June 2019 · Physical Review B

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevb.99.235128 · OSTI ID:1546747

Huang, Edwin W. ^[1]; Vaezi, Mohammad-Sadegh ^[2]; Nussinov, Zohar ^[3]; Vaezi, Abolhassan ^[4]

Stanford Univ., CA (United States). Dept. of Physics; SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States). Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Science (SIMES)
Pasargad Inst. for Advanced Innovative Solutions, Tehran (Iran); Washington Univ., St. Louis, MO (United States). Dept. of Physics
Washington Univ., St. Louis, MO (United States). Dept. of Physics
Stanford Univ., CA (United States). Dept. of Physics; Stanford Univ., CA (United States)

Motivated by recent experiments realizing correlated phenomena and superconductivity in two-dimensional (2D) van der Waals devices, we consider the general problem of whether correlation effects may be enhanced by modifying band structure while keeping a fixed weak interaction strength. Using determinantal quantum Monte Carlo, we study the 2D Hubbard model for two different band structures: a regular nearest-neighbor tight-binding model and a partially flat-band structure containing a nondispersing region, with identical total noninteracting bandwidth W_tot. For both repulsive and attractive weak interactions (|U| $$\ll$$ W$$_{tot}$$, correlated phenomena are significantly stronger in the partially flat model. In the repulsive case, even with $$U$$ being an order of magnitude smaller than W$$_{tot}$$, we find the presence of a Mott insulating state near half filling of the flat region in momentum space. In the attractive case, where generically the ground state is superconducting, the partially flat model exhibits significantly enhanced superconducting transition temperatures. These results suggest the possibility of engineering correlation effects in materials by tuning the noninteracting electronic dispersion.

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Research Organization:: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); National Science Foundation (NSF); USDOE

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-76SF00515; NSF 1411229

OSTI ID:: 1546747

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1546233

Journal Information:: Physical Review B, Vol. 99, Issue 23; ISSN 2469-9950

Publisher:: American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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