Quantum Geometry of Moir\'e Flat Bands Beyond the Valley Paradigm

TL;DR

This paper develops models for twisted bilayer bipartite lattices, showing how interlayer hybridization can induce quantum geometric properties in flat bands beyond the valley paradigm.

Contribution

It introduces a mechanism for engineering quantum geometry in moiré flat bands through interlayer hybridization in bipartite lattice heterobilayers.

Findings

Isolated flat bands at zero energy can be tuned by twist angle.

Flat bands exhibit finite Berry curvature and quantum metric.

Interlayer hybridization induces quantum geometry beyond valley-based models.

Abstract

Flat bands in moir\'e superlattices provide a fertile ground for correlated and topological phases, governed by their quantum geometric properties. While the valley-based paradigm captures key features in select materials, it breaks down in a growing class of systems lacking valley structure, where exotic phenomena such as twist-angle-tunable numbers of flat bands emerge. In this work, we develop and analyze tight-binding models for twisted heterobilayers of bipartite lattices, with a focus on the role of interlayer hybridization in generating flat-band quantum geometry. We demonstrate that sublattice-selective interlayer tunnelings in twisted dice lattice and graphene heterobilayers induce isolated flat bands at zero energy, whose number is tunable by the twist angle. Most importantly, these flat bands exhibit finite Berry curvature and a quantum metric of the Chern-insulator scale, generated through interlayer hybridization. This establishes a mechanism to induce quantum geometry in moir\'e flat bands beyond the valley paradigm. Our results chart a route to flat-band quantum geometry engineering in twisted bilayer bipartite lattices, with potential material realizations in oxide heterostructures, molecular lattices, and synthetic quantum matter.