Unconventional Orbital Magnetism in Graphene-based Fractional Chern Insulators

TL;DR

This paper uncovers unconventional orbital magnetic phenomena in graphene/hBN superlattices, revealing how in-plane magnetic fields influence topological states, phase transitions, and anomalous Hall effects in fractional Chern insulators.

Contribution

It demonstrates the sensitivity of orbital magnetism and topological phases in graphene-based FCIs to in-plane magnetic fields, revealing new control mechanisms for quantum states.

Findings

Chirality-switching of Chern insulators at moiré filling factor ν=1 under B||

Topological phase transitions at ν=2/3 influenced by B|| and B⊥

Rich phase transitions with intervalley coherence and anomalous Hall effects at 1<ν<2

Abstract

Orbital magnetism in graphene originates from correlation-driven spontaneous valley symmetry breaking1-7. It can lead to various anomalous transport phenomena such as integer and fractional quantum anomalous Hall effects8-11. In general, the in-plane magnetic field B|| primarily couples to the spin degrees of freedom in graphene and has long been presumed to have a negligible effect on orbital magnetism due to the ultra-weak spin-orbit coupling12-18. In this work, we report multiple unconventional orbital magnetic phenomena that are highly sensitive to the B|| field in graphene/hBN superlattices hosting both integer and fractional Chern insulators (FCIs). We observed chirality-switching behaviors of the Chern insulator at moir\'e filling factor {\nu} = 1 under a finite B_par, demonstrating that both the C = +-1 states are permissible ground states at zero perpendicular magnetic field B_per. For the FCI at {\nu} = 2/3, we observed topological phase transitions between two states characterized by Hall resistivity \r{ho}xy = +-3h/2e2 under both B_per and B_par fields. In-plane B|| field can effectively suppress the FCI state at zero B_per field and enhance the FCI state with the opposite chirality, as resolved in Landau fan diagrams. Moreover, we observed rich phase transitions at 1 < {\nu} < 2, accompanied by intervalley coherence and anomalous Hall effects (AHE) that can be triggered by sweeping either B_per or B_par. Our work has unveiled new properties of orbital magnetism, providing a new knob for engineering various AHE in graphene.