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Chin. Phys. B, 2025, Vol. 34(11): 116801    DOI: 10.1088/1674-1056/adee03
CONDENSED MATTER: STRUCTURAL, MECHANICAL, AND THERMAL PROPERTIES Prev   Next  

Second-order topological insulator in twisted bilayer graphene with small twist angle

Fenghua Qi(戚凤华)1, Jie Cao(曹杰)2,†, Xingfei Zhou(周兴飞)3,‡, and Guojun Jin(金国钧)4,5,§
1 School of Electronic Engineering, Nanjing Xiaozhuang University, Nanjing 211171, China;
2 College of Mechanics and Engineering Science, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China;
3 New Energy Technology Engineering Laboratory of Jiangsu Province School of Science, Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Nanjing 210023, China;
4 School of Physics Science and Technology, Kunming University, Kunming 650214, China;
5 National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, Department of Physics, and Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, Chin
Abstract  In recent years, the study of higher-order topological states and their material realizations has become a research frontier in topological condensed matter physics. We demonstrate that twisted bilayer graphene with small twist angles behaves as a second-order topological insulator possessing topological corner charges. Using a tight-binding model, we compute the topological band indices and corner states of finite-sized twisted bilayer graphene flakes. It is found that for any small twist angle, whether commensurate or incommensurate, the gaps both below and above the flat bands are associated with nontrivial topological indices. Our results not only extend the concept of second-order band topology to arbitrary small twist angles but also confirm the existence of corner states at acute-angle corners.
Keywords:  second-order topological insulators      twisted bilayer graphene  
Received:  24 May 2025      Revised:  24 June 2025      Accepted manuscript online:  10 July 2025
PACS:  68.65.Cd (Superlattices)  
  73.20.At (Surface states, band structure, electron density of states)  
  03.65.Vf (Phases: geometric; dynamic or topological)  
Fund: This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 12104232 and 12074156).
Corresponding Authors:  Jie Cao, Xingfei Zhou, Guojun Jin     E-mail:  caojie@hhu.edu.cn;zxf@njupt.edu.cn;gjin@nju.edu.cn
About author:  2025-116801-250926.pdf

Cite this article: 

Fenghua Qi(戚凤华), Jie Cao(曹杰), Xingfei Zhou(周兴飞), and Guojun Jin(金国钧) Second-order topological insulator in twisted bilayer graphene with small twist angle 2025 Chin. Phys. B 34 116801

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