Ultra-strong spin–orbit coupling and topological moiré engineering in twisted ZrS2 bilayers

Martin Claassen (), Lede Xian, Dante M. Kennes () and Angel Rubio ()
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Martin Claassen: University of Pennsylvania
Lede Xian: Songshan Lake Materials Laboratory
Dante M. Kennes: Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, Center for Free Electron Laser Science
Angel Rubio: Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, Center for Free Electron Laser Science

Nature Communications, 2022, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: Abstract We predict that twisted bilayers of 1T-ZrS2 realize a novel and tunable platform to engineer two-dimensional topological quantum phases dominated by strong spin-orbit interactions. At small twist angles, ZrS2 heterostructures give rise to an emergent and twist-controlled moiré Kagome lattice, combining geometric frustration and strong spin-orbit coupling to give rise to a moiré quantum spin Hall insulator with highly controllable and nearly-dispersionless bands. We devise a generic pseudo-spin theory for group-IV transition metal dichalcogenides that relies on the two-component character of the valence band maximum of the 1T structure at Γ, and study the emergence of a robust quantum anomalous Hall phase as well as possible fractional Chern insulating states from strong Coulomb repulsion at fractional fillings of the topological moiré Kagome bands. Our results establish group-IV transition metal dichalcogenide bilayers as a novel moiré platform to realize strongly-correlated topological phases in a twist-tunable setting.

Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-31604-w

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