Composite Fermi liquid at zero magnetic field in twisted MoTe2

The pursuit of exotic phases of matter outside of the extreme conditions of a quantizing magnetic field is a longstanding quest of solid state physics. Recent experiments have observed spontaneous valley polarization and fractional Chern insulators (FCIs) in zero magnetic field in twisted bilayers of MoTe2, at partial filling of the topological valence band (-2/3 and −3/5). We study the topological valence band at half filling, using exact diagonalization and density matrix renormalization group calculations. We discover a composite Fermi liquid (CFL) phase even at zero magnetic field that covers a large portion of the phase diagram near twist angle ∼3.6 degrees. The CFL is a non-Fermi liquid phase with metallic behavior despite the absence of Landau quasiparticles. We discuss experimental implications including the competition between the CFL and a Fermi liquid, which can be tuned with a displacement field. The topological valence band has excellent quantum geometry over a wide range of twist angles and a small bandwidth that is, remarkably, reduced by interactions. These key properties stablize the exotic zero field quantum Hall phases. Finally, we present an optical signature involving "extinguished" optical responses that detects Chern bands with ideal quantum geometry.