Melting of generalized Wigner crystals in transition metal dichalcogenide heterobilayer Moiré systems

Interactions and pattern formation in a macroscopic magnetocapillary SALR system of mermaid cereal

When particles are deposited at a fluid interface they tend to aggregate by capillary attraction to minimize the overall potential energy of the system. In this work, we embed floating millimetric disks with permanent magnets to introduce a competing repulsion effect and study their pattern formation in equilibrium. The pairwise energy landscape of two disks is described by a short-range attraction and long-range repulsion (SALR) interaction potential, previously documented in a number of microscopic condensed matter systems. Such competing interactions enable a variety of pairwise equilibrium states, including the possibility of a local minimum energy corresponding to a finite disk spacing. Two-dimensional (2D) experiments and simulations in confined geometries demonstrate that as the areal packing fraction is increased, the dilute repulsion-dominated lattice state becomes unstable to the spontaneous formation of localized clusters, which eventually merge into a system-spanning striped pattern. Finally, we demonstrate that the equilibrium pattern can be externally manipulated by the application of a supplemental vertical magnetic force that remotely enhances the effective capillary attraction.

Maximally localized Wannier functions, interaction models, and fractional quantum anomalous Hall effect in twisted bilayer MoTe2

We investigate the moiré band structures and the strong correlation effects in twisted bilayer MoTe[Formula: see text] for a wide range of twist angles, employing a combination of various techniques. Using large-scale first-principles calculations, we pinpoint realistic continuum modeling parameters, subsequently deriving the maximally localized Wannier functions for the top three moiré bands. Simplifying our model with reasonable assumptions, we obtain a minimal two-band model, encompassing Coulomb repulsion, correlated hopping, and spin exchange. Our minimal interaction models pave the way for further exploration of the rich many-body physics in twisted MoTe[Formula: see text]. Furthermore, we explore the phase diagrams of the system through Hartree-Fock approximation and exact diagonalization (ED). Our two-band ED analysis underscores significant band-mixing effects in this system, which enlarge the optimal twist angle for fractional quantum anomalous Hall states.

Semiconductor moiré materials

Moiré materials have emerged as a platform for exploring the physics of strong electronic correlations and non-trivial band topology. Here we review the recent progress in semiconductor moiré materials, with a particular focus on transition metal dichalcogenides. Following a brief overview of the general features in this class of materials, we discuss recent theoretical and experimental studies on Hubbard physics, Kane-Mele-Hubbard physics and equilibrium moiré excitons. We also comment on the future opportunities and challenges in the studies of transition metal dichalcogenide and other semiconductor moiré materials.