Realization of topological Mott insulator in a twisted bilayer graphene lattice model

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 12; no. 1; p. 5480
• Main Authors: Chen, Bin-Bin, Liao, Yuan Da, Chen, Ziyu, Vafek, Oskar, Kang, Jian, Li, Wei, Meng, Zi Yang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 16-09-2021; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 639/301/357/918; 639/766/119/2792/4128; 639/766/119/995; Analytical methods; Bilayers; Coupling; Graphene; Humanities and Social Sciences; multidisciplinary; Numerical methods; Phase transitions; Quantum Hall effect; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Topology
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-25438-1

Magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene has recently become a thriving material platform realizing correlated electron phenomena taking place within its topological flat bands. Several numerical and analytical methods have been applied to understand the correlated phases therein, revealing some similarity with the quantum Hall physics. In this work, we provide a Mott-Hubbard perspective for the TBG system. Employing the large-scale density matrix renormalization group on the lattice model containing the projected Coulomb interactions only, we identify a first-order quantum phase transition between the insulating stripe phase and the quantum anomalous Hall state with the Chern number of ±1. Our results not only shed light on the mechanism of the quantum anomalous Hall state discovered at three-quarters filling, but also provide an example of the topological Mott insulator, i.e., the quantum anomalous Hall state in the strong coupling limit.
Magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene exhibits a quantum anomalous Hall effect at 3/4 filling; however, its mechanism is debated. Here, the authors show that such a phase can be realized in a lattice model of twisted bilayer graphene in the strong coupling limit, and interpret the results in terms of a topological Mott insulator phase.