May 22, 2018 | Yuan Cao, Valla Fatemi, Shiang Fang, Kenji Watanabe, Takashi Taniguchi, Ethimos Kaxiras, Pablo Jarillo-Herrero
The article reports the realization of intrinsic unconventional superconductivity in a 2D superlattice created by stacking two graphene sheets with a small twist angle, known as "magic-angle" twisted bilayer graphene (MA-TBG). At the first "magic" angle of about 1.1°, MA-TBG exhibits ultra-flat bands near charge neutrality, leading to correlated insulating states at half-filling. By electrostatic doping away from these insulating states, tunable zero-resistance states with a critical temperature \( T_c \) up to 1.7 K are observed. The temperature-density phase diagram shows similarities with cuprates, including superconducting domes. Quantum oscillations indicate small Fermi surfaces near the correlated insulating phase, similar to under-doped cuprates. The relatively high \( T_c \) for such low Fermi surface areas makes MA-TBG one of the strongest coupling superconductors, comparable to cuprates and FeSe thin layers. These findings establish MA-TBG as the first purely carbon-based 2D superconductor and a highly tunable platform for investigating strongly-correlated phenomena, which could provide insights into the physics of high-$T_c$ superconductors and quantum spin liquids.The article reports the realization of intrinsic unconventional superconductivity in a 2D superlattice created by stacking two graphene sheets with a small twist angle, known as "magic-angle" twisted bilayer graphene (MA-TBG). At the first "magic" angle of about 1.1°, MA-TBG exhibits ultra-flat bands near charge neutrality, leading to correlated insulating states at half-filling. By electrostatic doping away from these insulating states, tunable zero-resistance states with a critical temperature \( T_c \) up to 1.7 K are observed. The temperature-density phase diagram shows similarities with cuprates, including superconducting domes. Quantum oscillations indicate small Fermi surfaces near the correlated insulating phase, similar to under-doped cuprates. The relatively high \( T_c \) for such low Fermi surface areas makes MA-TBG one of the strongest coupling superconductors, comparable to cuprates and FeSe thin layers. These findings establish MA-TBG as the first purely carbon-based 2D superconductor and a highly tunable platform for investigating strongly-correlated phenomena, which could provide insights into the physics of high-$T_c$ superconductors and quantum spin liquids.