Ideal topological flat bands in two-dimensional moiré heterostructures with type-II band alignment

Topological flat bands play an essential role in inducing exotic interacting physics, ranging from fractional Chern insulators to superconductivity, in moiré materials. In this work, we propose a design principle for realizing topological flat bands with "ideal quantum geometry", namely the trace of Fubini-Study metric equals to the Berry curvature, in a class of two-dimensional moiré heterostructures with type-II band alignment. We first introduce a moiré Chern-band model to describe this system and show that topological flat bands can be realized in this model when the moiré superlattice potential is stronger than the type-II atomic band gap of the heterostructure. Next, we map this model into a topological heavy fermion model that consists of a localized orbital for "f-electron" and a conducting band for "c-electron". We find that both the flatness and quantum geometry of the flat band in the topological heavy fermion model depend on the energy gap between c-electron and f-electron bands at $Γ$ which is experimentally controllable via external gate voltages. This tunability will allow us to realize an ideal topological flat band with zero band-width and ideal quantum geometry. Our design strategy of topological flat bands is insensitive of twist angle. We also discuss possible material candidates for moiré heterostructures with type-II band alignment.

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Publication Details

Journal
Physical review. B./Physical review. B
Published
2026-10-29
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1103/xr7d-nd6b
Primary Topic
Topological Materials and Phenomena
Type
article
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article

Ideal topological flat bands in two-dimensional moiré heterostructures with type-II band alignment

Yunzhe Liu, Dumitru Călugăru, Bogdan Andrei Bernevig, Qimin Yan et al.
3 links
Physical review. B./Physical review. B
Topological Materials and Phenomena
article

Ideal topological flat bands in two-dimensional moiré heterostructures with type-II band alignment

Yunzhe Liu, Dumitru Călugăru, Bogdan Andrei Bernevig, Qimin Yan, Zhenyao Fang, Anoj Aryal, Kaijie Yang, Chao‐Xing Liu
article en

Abstract

Topological flat bands play an essential role in inducing exotic interacting physics, ranging from fractional Chern insulators to superconductivity, in moiré materials. In this work, we propose a design principle for realizing topological flat bands with "ideal quantum geometry", namely the trace of Fubini-Study metric equals to the Berry curvature, in a class of two-dimensional moiré heterostructures with type-II band alignment. We first introduce a moiré Chern-band model to describe this system and show that topological flat bands can be realized in this model when the moiré superlattice potential is stronger than the type-II atomic band gap of the heterostructure. Next, we map this model into a topological heavy fermion model that consists of a localized orbital for "f-electron" and a conducting band for "c-electron". We find that both the flatness and quantum geometry of the flat band in the topological heavy fermion model depend on the energy gap between c-electron and f-electron bands at $Γ$ which is experimentally controllable via external gate voltages. This tunability will allow us to realize an ideal topological flat band with zero band-width and ideal quantum geometry. Our design strategy of topological flat bands is insensitive of twist angle. We also discuss possible material candidates for moiré heterostructures with type-II band alignment.

Physical review. B./Physical review. B
Openalex Percentile: Top 98%
Topological Materials and Phenomena
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