Stability of Anomalous Hall Crystals in multilayer rhombohedral graphene

Stability of Anomalous Hall Crystals in multilayer rhombohedral graphene

April 15, 2024 | Zhihuan Dong, Adarsh S. Patri, and T. Senthil
The stability of Anomalous Hall Crystals (AHCs) in pentalayer rhombohedral graphene (R5G) is analyzed in the context of the integer quantum anomalous Hall (IQAH) effect. The IQAH effect in R5G, aligned with hexagonal boron nitride (hBN), is explained by a valley-polarized interaction-induced Chern band. The resulting many-body state is an AHC with a Chern number of 1, leading to an IQAH effect at filling ν=1. The AHC is stabilized by the interplay between Hartree-Fock interactions and the moiré potential, which can induce a phase transition from a correlated Fermi liquid to an AHC. The moiré potential is crucial in stabilizing the AHC, even in the absence of a moiré potential, by breaking translational symmetry and leading to a crystalline state. The AHC is characterized by a Chern number of 1, and the moiré potential enhances this stabilization. The phase diagram of R5G is analyzed using a simplified model that captures the competition between AHC and Wigner crystal (WC) phases. The model predicts the Hartree-Fock phase diagram with good accuracy, showing that the AHC is favored over the WC in certain regimes. The AHC is also shown to be stable at higher Chern numbers when the moiré potential is present. The study highlights the role of the moiré potential in stabilizing the AHC and the importance of the Chern number in determining the quantum Hall effect in R5G. The results suggest that the AHC is a robust phase in R5G, with potential applications in quantum computing and topological insulators.The stability of Anomalous Hall Crystals (AHCs) in pentalayer rhombohedral graphene (R5G) is analyzed in the context of the integer quantum anomalous Hall (IQAH) effect. The IQAH effect in R5G, aligned with hexagonal boron nitride (hBN), is explained by a valley-polarized interaction-induced Chern band. The resulting many-body state is an AHC with a Chern number of 1, leading to an IQAH effect at filling ν=1. The AHC is stabilized by the interplay between Hartree-Fock interactions and the moiré potential, which can induce a phase transition from a correlated Fermi liquid to an AHC. The moiré potential is crucial in stabilizing the AHC, even in the absence of a moiré potential, by breaking translational symmetry and leading to a crystalline state. The AHC is characterized by a Chern number of 1, and the moiré potential enhances this stabilization. The phase diagram of R5G is analyzed using a simplified model that captures the competition between AHC and Wigner crystal (WC) phases. The model predicts the Hartree-Fock phase diagram with good accuracy, showing that the AHC is favored over the WC in certain regimes. The AHC is also shown to be stable at higher Chern numbers when the moiré potential is present. The study highlights the role of the moiré potential in stabilizing the AHC and the importance of the Chern number in determining the quantum Hall effect in R5G. The results suggest that the AHC is a robust phase in R5G, with potential applications in quantum computing and topological insulators.
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Understanding Stability of anomalous Hall crystals in multilayer rhombohedral graphene