Quantum melting of generalized electron crystal in twisted bilayer MoSe<sub>2</sub>

Electrons can form an ordered solid crystal phase ascribed to the interplay between Coulomb repulsion and kinetic energy. Tuning these energy scales can drive a phase transition from electron solid to liquid, i.e., melting of Wigner crystal. Generalized Wigner crystals (GWCs) pinned to moiré superlattices have been reported by optical and scanning-probe-based methods. Using transport measurements to investigate GWCs is vital to a complete characterization, however, still poses a significant challenge due to difficulties in making reliable electrical contacts. Here, we report the electrical transport detection of GWCs at fractional fillings ν = 2/5, 1/2, 3/5, 2/3, 8/9, 10/9, and 4/3 in twisted bilayer MoSe<sub>2</sub>. We further observe that these GWCs undergo continuous quantum melting transitions to liquid phases by tuning doping density, magnetic and displacement fields, manifested by quantum critical scaling behaviors. Our findings establish twisted bilayer MoSe<sub>2</sub> as a novel system to study strongly correlated states of matter and their quantum phase transitions.

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Publication Details

Journal
MPG.PuRe (Max Planck Society)
Published
2025-04-30
Primary Topic
2D Materials and Applications
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article
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article

Quantum melting of generalized electron crystal in twisted bilayer MoSe2

Q. Xu, D. Kennes, A. Rubio, Y. He et al.
MPG.PuRe (Max Planck Society)
2D Materials and Applications
article

Quantum melting of generalized electron crystal in twisted bilayer MoSe2

Q. Xu, D. Kennes, A. Rubio, Y. He, H. -F. Wang, Q. Zong, D. Rhodes, X. Cheng, L. Xian, K. Watanabe, A. Fischer, G. Yu, Q. Zhang, L. ; https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0812-1566 Wang, T. Taniguchi
article en

Abstract

Electrons can form an ordered solid crystal phase ascribed to the interplay between Coulomb repulsion and kinetic energy. Tuning these energy scales can drive a phase transition from electron solid to liquid, i.e., melting of Wigner crystal. Generalized Wigner crystals (GWCs) pinned to moiré superlattices have been reported by optical and scanning-probe-based methods. Using transport measurements to investigate GWCs is vital to a complete characterization, however, still poses a significant challenge due to difficulties in making reliable electrical contacts. Here, we report the electrical transport detection of GWCs at fractional fillings ν = 2/5, 1/2, 3/5, 2/3, 8/9, 10/9, and 4/3 in twisted bilayer MoSe<sub>2</sub>. We further observe that these GWCs undergo continuous quantum melting transitions to liquid phases by tuning doping density, magnetic and displacement fields, manifested by quantum critical scaling behaviors. Our findings establish twisted bilayer MoSe<sub>2</sub> as a novel system to study strongly correlated states of matter and their quantum phase transitions.

MPG.PuRe (Max Planck Society)
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2D Materials and Applications
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Quantum melting of generalized electron crystal in twisted bilayer MoSe<sub>2</sub> — Q. Xu, D. Kennes, et al. · MPG.PuRe (Max Planck Society) (2025) | TGRS Research Map | TGRS