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The nu=-2 state in Twisted Bilayer Graphene: A Bad Insulator?

Published on August 22, 2019

At the “Mottness, Poor Conductors, and Strange Metals” Workshop at the Tsung-Dao Lee Institute, Shanghai, China I presented my work and some new speculations on twisted bilayer graphene. The full presentation can be downloaded here (PDF).

Title: The nu = -2 state in Twisted Bilayer Graphene: a bad Mott insulator?

Abstract: Twisted bilayer graphene near the ‘magic angle’ has shown a wealth of interesting states: superconductivity, ferromagnetism, correlated insulator states and a linear resistivity ‘strange metal’. I will focus on the state at carrier density nu = -2 relative to charge neutrality. At this filling the resistivity is minimal at around 4 K, above which there is reported linear resistivity and below which it is insulating. Using unbiased real-space Hartree-Fock calculations, we show that the nu = -2 state undergoes a charge transfer between “ring” and “center” orbitals leading to an even further flattening of the bands. Including a Hubbard interaction will then lead to a Mott insulator. However, unlike ‘strong’ Mott insulators like the cuprate parent compounds, this Mott state can easily be destroyed by temperature or magnetic field. I will discuss possible mechanisms for this ‘bad insulator’ behavior, including its relation to the multi-channel Kondo effect