Adiabatic Approximation and Aharonov-Casher Bands in Twisted Homobilayer TMDs

Adiabatic Approximation and Aharonov-Casher Bands in Twisted Homobilayer TMDs

Dated: July 2, 2024 | Jingtian Shi, Nicolás Morales-Durán, Eslam Khalaf, A.H. MacDonald
The paper examines the adiabatic approximation in the context of twisted homobilayer transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) moiré superlattices, which are known to exhibit topological flat moiré bands with nearly ideal quantum geometry. The authors propose that the adiabatic approximation, which replaces the position-dependent layer spinor with a non-uniform periodic effective magnetic field, can accurately describe the system under certain parameter regimes. They show that the adiabatic approximation is valid for a wide range of parameters, including those used in experiments. The paper also discusses the emergence of Aharonov-Casher (AC) bands, which are zero-energy modes that arise when the local zero-point kinetic energy of the magnetic field cancels against the effective Zeeman energy. The authors find that while the cancellation leading to AC bands is generally not possible beyond the leading Fourier harmonic, this harmonic is the dominant term in the Fourier expansions of the zero-point kinetic energy and Zeeman energy. As a result, the leading harmonic expansion accurately captures the trend of the bandwidth and quantum geometry, though it may not reproduce more detailed information about the bands, such as the Berry curvature distribution. The paper concludes by discussing the influence of the residual potential on the full-band charge density distribution and Berry curvature, and highlights the transition between Landau-level-like and Haldane-model-like band structures at higher twist angles.The paper examines the adiabatic approximation in the context of twisted homobilayer transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) moiré superlattices, which are known to exhibit topological flat moiré bands with nearly ideal quantum geometry. The authors propose that the adiabatic approximation, which replaces the position-dependent layer spinor with a non-uniform periodic effective magnetic field, can accurately describe the system under certain parameter regimes. They show that the adiabatic approximation is valid for a wide range of parameters, including those used in experiments. The paper also discusses the emergence of Aharonov-Casher (AC) bands, which are zero-energy modes that arise when the local zero-point kinetic energy of the magnetic field cancels against the effective Zeeman energy. The authors find that while the cancellation leading to AC bands is generally not possible beyond the leading Fourier harmonic, this harmonic is the dominant term in the Fourier expansions of the zero-point kinetic energy and Zeeman energy. As a result, the leading harmonic expansion accurately captures the trend of the bandwidth and quantum geometry, though it may not reproduce more detailed information about the bands, such as the Berry curvature distribution. The paper concludes by discussing the influence of the residual potential on the full-band charge density distribution and Berry curvature, and highlights the transition between Landau-level-like and Haldane-model-like band structures at higher twist angles.
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