Light-induced transitions of valley Chern numbers and flat bands in a nontwisted moiré graphene–hexagonal boron nitride superlattice

Motivated by the rich topology and interesting quasiband structure of twisted moiré materials subjected to light, we study a nontwisted moiré material under the influence of light. Our work is in part motivated by a desire to find an easier-to-synthesize platform that can help experimentally elucidate the interesting physics of moiré materials coupled to light. Similar to twisted moiré materials, we uncover rich topology and interesting band flattening effects, which we summarize in relevant plots such as a topological phase diagram. Our work demonstrates that much of the interesting phenomenology of twisted moiré materials under the influence of electromagnetic waves seems to be generically present even in more experimentally accessible untwisted moiré platforms, which remain highly tunable by light.