Electric field tunable superconductivity with competing orders in twisted bilayer graphene near magic-angle

TL;DR

This study investigates how electric field tuning affects superconductivity and competing orders in near-magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene, revealing a complex interplay between band structure, symmetry breaking, and superconducting phases.

Contribution

It provides in-situ band structure tuning insights into the competition between superconductivity and broken symmetries in tBLG near the magic angle, linking electric field effects to electronic correlations.

Findings

Superconductivity is suppressed with increasing displacement field.

Resistance peak at half-filling appears as superconductivity weakens.

Van Hove singularity shifts to higher fillings with electric field.

Abstract

Superconductivity (SC) in twisted bilayer graphene (tBLG) has been explored by varying carrier concentrations, twist angles, and screening strength, with the aim of uncovering its origin and possible connections to strong electronic correlations in narrow bands and various resulting broken symmetries. However, the link between the tBLG band structure and the onset of SC and other orders largely remains unclear. In this study, we address this crucial gap by examining in-situ band structure tuning of a near magic-angle ($\theta \approx0.95^\circ$) tBLG device with displacement field ($D$) and reveal remarkable competition between SC and other broken symmetries. At zero $D$, the device exhibits superconducting signatures without the resistance peak at half-filling, a characteristic signature with a strong electronic correlation. As $D$ increases, the SC is suppressed, accompanied by the appearance of a resistance peak at half-filling. Hall density measurements reveal that at zero $D$, SC arises around the van Hove singularity (vHs) from an isospin or spin-valley unpolarized band. At higher $D$, the suppression of SC coincides with broken isospin symmetry near half-filling with lifted degeneracy ($g_d \sim 2$). Additionally, as the SC phase becomes weaker with $D$, vHs shifts to higher fillings, highlighting the modification of the underlying band structure with the applied electric field. These findings, with recent theoretical study on SC in tBLG, highlight the competition, rather being connected concomitantly, between SC and other orders promoted by broken symmetries.