Ultra-strong spin-orbit coupling and topological moiré engineering in twisted ZrS<sub>2</sub> bilayers.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 35995779.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-022-31604-w and PMC identifier 9395362.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
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.