Topological sliding moiré heterostructure

Journal Article · 27 January 2020 · Physical Review. B

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevb.101.041113 · OSTI ID:1760569

Su, Ying  ^[1]; Lin, Shizeng  ^[1]

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1. Los Alamos National Laboratory

In this work, we investigate the effect of the sliding motion of layers in moiré heterostructures on the electronic state. We show that the sliding moiré heterostructure can generate nontrivial topology characterized by the first and second Chern number in the high-dimensional manifold spanned by the physical dimensions and synthetic dimensions associated with the sliding displacement. The nontrivial topology implies a topological charge pumping caused by the sliding motion. We demonstrate the nontrivial topology and charge pumping explicitly in a one-dimensional bichain model and small-angle twisted bilayer graphene. Contrary to the conventional belief that the interlayer sliding in incommensurate moiré heterostructures does not affect the electronic structure, our results reveal that the sliding motion can generate nontrivial topology dynamically and hence cannot be neglected in the dynamical process.

• Research Organization: Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program; USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Materials Sciences & Engineering Division
• Grant/Contract Number: 89233218CNA000001
• OSTI ID: 1760569
• Report Number(s): LA-UR--19-30658
• Journal Information: Physical Review. B, Journal Name: Physical Review. B Journal Issue: 4 Vol. 101; ISSN 2469-9950
• Publisher: American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English