Trilayer Moiré Superlattices of MoS₂ as a Simulator for the Ionic Hubbard Model on Honeycomb Lattice

HZ Zhong and ZX Su and J Kang, ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS (2023).

DOI: 10.1002/adfm.202311814

Recent studies have revealed the potential of 2D moire superlattices as a condensed matter quantum simulator. The realization of different lattice model Hamiltonians in moire superlattices has become the focus of researches. Here, it shows that, compared to bilayer moire superlattices where there is only one interface, the interference between moire patterns at different interfaces in 2D multilayer structures allows the physical realization of more complicated lattice models. The concept is demonstrated by trilayer moire superlattices (TMSLs) of MoS2, where it finds that isolated flat moire bands appear near the valence band edge, and they can be described by the honeycomb lattice ionic Hubbard model. More importantly, the hopping strength, the on-site Coulomb repulsion, and the staggered potential in the TMSLs are highly tunable through the control of the twist angle, the dielectric environment, and the perpendicular electric field. It is possible to achieve various transitions between distinct quantum phases in the TMSLs, spanning from weak to strong correlation regimes. Therefore, the proposed TMSLs can serve as a good platform to study the strong correlation physics in the honeycomb lattice ionic Hubbard model.

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