Induced Zeeman effect of moir\'e surface states in topological insulators

TL;DR

This paper investigates how moiré superlattices on topological insulator surfaces induce an additional Zeeman effect, affecting Landau levels and revealing new magnetic field interactions in these materials.

Contribution

It demonstrates the emergence of an extra Zeeman term in moiré surface states caused by magnetic orbital effects, altering Landau level behavior.

Findings

Extra Zeeman term induced by moiré superlattice effects

Tilted zeroth Landau level under out-of-plane magnetic field

Modification of topological surface state properties

Abstract

Recently, moir\'e superlattices have been found on the surface of topological insulators due to the rotational misalignment of topmost layers. In this work, we study the effects of moir\'e superlattices on the Landau levels of topological surface states. We find that an extra Zeeman term besides the intrinsic one can be induced by the orbital effect of the magnetic field in moir\'e surface states. As a result, the originally field-independent zeroth Landau level of moir\'e surface states could be tilted by the out-of-plane magnetic field.