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Optical imaging of flavor order in flat band graphene

Author

Listed:
  • Tian Xie

    (University of California at Santa Barbara)

  • Tobias M. Wolf

    (University of Texas at Austin)

  • Siyuan Xu

    (University of California at Santa Barbara)

  • Zhiyuan Cui

    (University of California at Santa Barbara)

  • Richen Xiong

    (University of California at Santa Barbara)

  • Yunbo Ou

    (Arizona State University)

  • Patrick Hays

    (Arizona State University)

  • Ludwig F. Holleis

    (University of California at Santa Barbara)

  • Yi Guo

    (University of California at Santa Barbara)

  • Owen I. Sheekey

    (University of California at Santa Barbara)

  • Caitlin Patterson

    (University of California at Santa Barbara)

  • Trevor Arp

    (University of California at Santa Barbara)

  • Kenji Watanabe

    (National Institute for Materials Science)

  • Takashi Taniguchi

    (National Institute for Materials Science)

  • Seth Ariel Tongay

    (Arizona State University)

  • Andrea F. Young

    (University of California at Santa Barbara)

  • Allan H. MacDonald

    (University of Texas at Austin)

  • Chenhao Jin

    (University of California at Santa Barbara)

Abstract

Spin- and valley flavor polarization plays a central role in the many-body physics of flat band graphene, with Fermi surface reconstruction — often accompanied by quantized anomalous Hall and superconducting state — observed in a variety of experimental systems. Here we describe an optical technique that sensitively and selectively detects flavor textures via the exciton response of a proximal transition metal dichalcogenide layer. Through a systematic study of rhombohedral and rotationally faulted graphene bilayers and trilayers, we show that when the semiconducting dichalcogenide is in direct contact with the graphene, the exciton response is most sensitive to the large momentum rearrangement of the Fermi surface, providing information that is distinct from and complementary to electrical compressibility measurements. The wide-field imaging capability of optical probes allows us to obtain spatial maps of flavor order with high throughput, and with broad temperature and device compatibility. Our work helps pave the way for optical probing and imaging of flavor orders in flat band graphene systems.

Suggested Citation

  • Tian Xie & Tobias M. Wolf & Siyuan Xu & Zhiyuan Cui & Richen Xiong & Yunbo Ou & Patrick Hays & Ludwig F. Holleis & Yi Guo & Owen I. Sheekey & Caitlin Patterson & Trevor Arp & Kenji Watanabe & Takashi , 2025. "Optical imaging of flavor order in flat band graphene," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-9, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-60675-8
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-60675-8
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