Emergent flat band lattices in spatially periodic magnetic fields

Motivated by the recent discovery of the Mott insulating phase and unconventional superconductivity due to the flat bands in twisted bilayer graphene, we propose more generic ways of getting two-dimensional (2D) emergent flat-band lattices using either 2D Dirac materials or ordinary electron gas (2DEG) subject to moderate periodic orbital magnetic fields with zero spatial average. We find stark contrast between Schrodinger and Dirac electrons, i.e., the former show recurring magic values of the magnetic field when the lowest band becomes flat, whereas, for the latter, the zero-energy bands are asymptotically flat without magicness. By examining the Wannier functions localized by the smooth periodic magnetic fields, we are able to explain these nontrivial behaviors using minimal tight-binding models on a square lattice. In particular the magicness of the 2DEG can be understood in terms of destructive quantum interference similar to classic flat-band lattice models. The two cases can be interpolated by varying the g factor or effective mass of a 2DEG and by taking into account the Zeeman coupling, which also leads to flat bands with nonzero Chern numbers for each spin. Our paper provides flexible platforms for exploring interaction-driven phases in 2D systems with on-demand superlattice symmetries.