Magic-angle graphene superlattices: a new platform for unconventional superconductivity

TL;DR

This paper reports the discovery of unconventional superconductivity in twisted bilayer graphene near the magic angle, showing high critical temperature and similarities to high-$T_c$ cuprates, establishing TBG as a new platform for studying strongly correlated quantum phenomena.

Contribution

It demonstrates intrinsic unconventional superconductivity in twisted bilayer graphene at the magic angle, with tunable properties and phase diagram resembling high-$T_c$ superconductors.

Findings

Superconductivity observed with $T_c$ up to 1.7 K.

Presence of correlated insulating states at half-filling.

Small Fermi surfaces indicating strong coupling regime.

Abstract

The understanding of strongly-correlated materials, and in particular unconventional superconductors, has puzzled physicists for decades. Such difficulties have stimulated new research paradigms, such as ultra-cold atom lattices for simulating quantum materials. Here we report on the realization of intrinsic unconventional superconductivity in a 2D superlattice created by stacking two graphene sheets with a small twist angle. For angles near $1.1^\circ$, the first `magic' angle, twisted bilayer graphene (TBG) exhibits ultra-flat bands near charge neutrality, which lead to correlated insulating states at half-filling. Upon electrostatic doping away from these correlated insulating states, we observe tunable zero-resistance states with a critical temperature $T_c$ up to 1.7 K. The temperature-density phase diagram shows similarities with that of the cuprates, including superconducting domes. Moreover, quantum oscillations indicate small Fermi surfaces near the correlated insulating phase, in analogy with under-doped cuprates. The relative high $T_c$, given such small Fermi surface (corresponding to a record-low 2D carrier density of $10^{11} \textrm{cm}^{-2}$ , renders TBG among the strongest coupling superconductors, in a regime close to the BCS-BEC crossover. These novel results establish TBG as the first purely carbon-based 2D superconductor and as a highly tunable platform to investigate strongly-correlated phenomena, which could lead to insights into the physics of high-$T_c$ superconductors and quantum spin liquids.