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Lattice reconstruction induced multiple ultra-flat bands in twisted bilayer WSe2

En Li, Jin-Xin Hu, Xuemeng Feng, Zishu Zhou, Liheng An, Kam Tuen Law, Ning Wang, Nian Lin

2021Nature Communications115 citationsDOIOpen Access PDF

Abstract

Abstract Moiré superlattices in van der Waals heterostructures provide a tunable platform to study emergent properties that are absent in the natural crystal form. Twisted bilayer transition metal dichalcogenides (TB-TMDs) can host moiré flat bands over a wide range of twist angles. For twist angle close to 60°, it was predicted that TB-TMDs undergo a lattice reconstruction which causes the formation of ultra-flat bands. Here, by using scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy, we show the emergence of multiple ultra-flat bands in twisted bilayer WSe 2 when the twist angle is within 3° of 60°. The ultra-flat bands are manifested as narrow tunneling conductance peaks with estimated bandwidth less than 10 meV, which is only a fraction of the estimated on-site Coulomb repulsion energy. The number of these ultra-flat bands and spatial distribution of the wavefunctions match well with the theoretical predictions, strongly evidencing that the observed ultra-flat bands are induced by lattice reconstruction. Our work provides a foundation for further study of the exotic correlated phases in TB-TMDs.

Topics & Concepts

BilayerCondensed matter physicsScanning tunneling microscopevan der Waals forceTwistHeterojunctionSuperlatticeLattice (music)Materials scienceCoulombQuantum tunnellingCrystal (programming language)Hexagonal latticePhysicsWave functionPrimitive cellMicroscopyMolecular physicsConductanceCrystallographyCrystal structureTransition metalBilayer grapheneSingle crystal2D Materials and ApplicationsGraphene research and applicationsTopological Materials and Phenomena