Moire commensurability and the quantum anomalous Hall effect in twisted bilayer graphene on hexagonal boron nitride

The quantum anomalous Hall (QAH) effect is sometimes observed in twisted bilayer graphene (tBG) when it is nearly aligned with an encapsulating hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) layer. We propose that the appearance or absence of the QAH effect in individual devices could be related to commensurability between the graphene/graphene and graphene/hBN moire patterns. We identify a series of points in the (theta(GG), theta(GBN)) twist-angle space at which the two moire patterns are commensurate, allowing moire band theory to be applied, and we show that the band Chern numbers are in this case sensitive to a rigid in-plane hBN displacement. Given this property, we argue that the QAH effect is likely only when (i) the (theta(GG), theta(GBN)) twist-angle-pair is close enough to a commensurate point that the two moire patterns yield a supermoire pattern with a sufficiently long length scale, and (ii) the supermoire has a percolating topologically nontrivial QAH phase. For twist angles far from commensurability, the hBN layer acts as a source of disorder that can destroy the QAH effect. Our proposal can explain a number of current experimental observations. Further experimental studies that can test this proposal more directly are suggested.

Automated summary

The quantum anomalous Hall (QAH) effect is sometimes observed in twisted bilayer graphene (tBG) when nearly aligned with an encapsulating hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) layer. The presence or absence of the QAH effect in individual devices is related to the commensurability between graphene/graphene and graphene/hBN moire patterns. The QAH effect is likely to occur when the moire patterns form a supermoire pattern near a commensurate point and have a percolating topologically nontrivial QAH phase.