Charge Density Waves in Twisted MoTe<sub>2</sub> Near the Magic Angle
ORAL
Abstract
Wigner crystals and other charge density waves (CDW) states are known to compete with incompressible fluid fractional quantum Hall (FQH) states at fractional Landau level fillings in two-dimensional electron gases.
Recent experimental advances have demonstrated the emergence of Fractional Chern Insulators—zero-field analogs of FQH states—in twisted MoTe2 (tMoTe2), highlighting the rich interplay between topology and electron correlations in moiré materials. Motivated by these developments, we investigate the nature of charge ordering in tMoTe₂ through self-consistent Hartree–Fock calculations. Our analysis incorporates Landau level mixing and is performed within the first-shell adiabatic approximation for fractional fillings of ¼, ⅓, ½, ⅔, and ¾. The results reveal a variety of metastable CDW states, including ones which preserve and break rotational symmetries (C₆ and C₃ stripe-like patterns), depending sensitively on the twist angle relative to the magic angle. The ground state energies in narrow Chern bands are very close to those in conventional Landau level systems and have a higher lowest landau level projection at smaller twist angles. These findings underscore the critical role of the moiré potential in shaping charge order and reinforce the conceptual link between moiré systems and conventional Landau level physics. Our work provides new insights into the competition between charge ordered states and FCIs.
Recent experimental advances have demonstrated the emergence of Fractional Chern Insulators—zero-field analogs of FQH states—in twisted MoTe2 (tMoTe2), highlighting the rich interplay between topology and electron correlations in moiré materials. Motivated by these developments, we investigate the nature of charge ordering in tMoTe₂ through self-consistent Hartree–Fock calculations. Our analysis incorporates Landau level mixing and is performed within the first-shell adiabatic approximation for fractional fillings of ¼, ⅓, ½, ⅔, and ¾. The results reveal a variety of metastable CDW states, including ones which preserve and break rotational symmetries (C₆ and C₃ stripe-like patterns), depending sensitively on the twist angle relative to the magic angle. The ground state energies in narrow Chern bands are very close to those in conventional Landau level systems and have a higher lowest landau level projection at smaller twist angles. These findings underscore the critical role of the moiré potential in shaping charge order and reinforce the conceptual link between moiré systems and conventional Landau level physics. Our work provides new insights into the competition between charge ordered states and FCIs.
*This research was supported by the Simons Foundation Targeted Grant under Award No. 896630.
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Presenters
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Sparsh Mishra
- University of Texas at Austin