Observation of fractional Chern insulators in a van der Waals heterostructure
Abstract
Unlike most electronic topological phenomena, the fractional quantum Hall effect requires correlations among electrons. Spanton et al. describe a class of related but even more unusual states, the fractional Chern insulators (see the Perspective by Repellin and Regnault). They observed these states in samples of bilayer graphene, where one of the graphene layers was misaligned by a small angle with respect to an adjoining layer of hexagonal boron nitride. The misalignment created a superlattice potential and topologically nontrivial bands, which had a fractional filling, thanks to strong electronic interactions. The findings expand the class of correlated topological states, which have been predicted to harbor exotic excitations.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Apr 06, 2018
- Source ID
- 10.1126/science.aan8458
Entities
People
- Alexander A Zibrov
- Andrea Young
- Eric M Spanton
- Haoxin Zhou
- Kenji Watanabe
- Michael P Zaletel
- Takashi Taniguchi
Organizations
- Army Research Office
- David and Lucile Packard Foundation
- Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
- National Institute for Materials Science
- National Science Foundation
- Princeton University
- University of California