Electric field-tunable superconductivity in alternating-twist magic-angle trilayer graphene

Engineering moire superlattices by twisting layers in van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures has uncovered a wide array of quantum phenomena. We constructed a vdW heterostructure that consists of three graphene layers stacked with alternating twist angles +/- theta. At the average twist angle theta similar to 1.56 degrees, a theoretically predicted magic angle for the formation of flat electron bands, we observed displacement field-tunable superconductivity with a maximum critical temperature of 2.1 kelvin. By tuning the doping level and displacement field, we found that superconducting regimes occur in conjunction with flavor polarization of moire bands and are bounded by a van Hove singularity (vHS) at high displacement fields. Our findings display inconsistencies with a weak coupling description, suggesting that the observed moire superconductivity has an unconventional nature.

Automated summary

By constructing a van der Waals heterostructure with three stacked graphene layers at alternating twist angles, researchers observed tunable superconductivity at a specific twist angle. The superconducting regions are associated with flavor polarization of moire bands and are bounded by a van Hove singularity at high displacement fields, indicating unconventional moire superconductivity.