Landau Levels as a Probe for Band Topology in Graphene Moire Superlattices

We propose Landau levels as a probe for the topological character of electronic bands in two-dimensional moire superlattices. We consider two configurations of twisted double bilayer graphene (TDBG) that have very similar band structures, but show different valley Chern numbers of the flat bands. These differences between the AB-AB and AB-BA configurations of TDBG clearly manifest as different Landau level sequences in the Hofstadter butterfly spectra calculated using the tight-binding model. The Landau level sequences are explained from the point of view of the distribution of orbital magnetization in momentum space that is governed by the rotational C-2 and time-reversal T symmetries. Our results can be readily extended to other twisted graphene multilayers and h-BN/graphene heterostructures thus establishing the Hofstadter butterfly spectra as a powerful tool for detecting the nontrivial valley band topology.

Automated summary

The study shows that different configurations of twisted double bilayer graphene exhibit distinct Landau level sequences in the Hofstadter butterfly spectra, reflecting the differences in valley Chern numbers of their flat bands. These differences can be explained by analyzing the distribution of orbital magnetization in momentum space.