Electrically tunable gauge fields in tiny-angle twisted bilayer graphene

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that a perpendicular electric field in tiny-angle twisted bilayer graphene creates artificial gauge fields, enabling the generation of pseudo-Landau levels and localized modes, which could facilitate new quantum phases.

Contribution

It introduces a novel method to induce artificial gauge fields in tiny-angle twisted bilayer graphene using electric fields, bypassing strain engineering.

Findings

Electric fields generate pseudo-Landau levels in tiny-angle twisted bilayer graphene.

Localized flat band modes form an emergent Kagome lattice.

Potential for realizing frustrated lattices and strongly correlated phases.

Abstract

Twisted bilayer graphene has recently attracted a lot of attention for its rich electronic properties and tunability. Here we show that for very small twist angles, $\alpha \ll 1^\circ$, the application of a perpendicular electric field is mathematically equivalent to a new kind of artificial gauge field. This identification opens the door for the generation and detection of pseudo-Landau levels in graphene platforms within robust setups which do not depend on strain engineering and therefore can be realistically harvested for technological applications. Furthermore, this new artificial gauge field leads to the development of highly localized modes associated with flat bands close to charge neutrality which form an emergent Kagome lattice in real space. Our findings indicate that for tiny angles, biased twisted bilayer graphene is a promising platform which can realize frustrated lattices of highly localized states, opening a new direction for the investigation of strongly correlated phases of matter.