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    Engineering Kekulé topological flat bands and fractional Chern insulators in ultracold atomic gases

    Li-Min Zhang1,2,3, Yu-Biao Wu4,*, Guang-Can Guo1,2,3, and Xu-Bo Zou1,2,3,†

    • *Contact author: wuyb@iphy.ac.cn
    • †Contact author: xbz@ustc.edu.cn

    Phys. Rev. A 113, 053313 – Published 14 May, 2026

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/56x8-hh6m

    Abstract

    Moiré systems have recently become an important way to explore two-dimensional exotic strongly correlated physics, in which flat bands, generated from twist leading large periodic supercell structures, play a crucial role. Here we propose a valid and feasible scheme for implementing topological flat bands with ultracold atoms trapped in an optical lattice. Instead of introducing a twist, via a spatially dependent Raman coupling between staggered bilayer lattices, we realize a Kekulé supercell with tunable intercell hopping and staggered flux. We demonstrate that the band can be engineered into a quasiflat band with nearly ideal quantum geometry through these tunable parameters. Over a broad parameter range, our system hosts almost ideal flat bands, making it a promising platform for fractional Chern insulator (FCI) states. Performing exact diagonalization on the engineered flat band, we confirm the existence of the FCI state at fractional fillings ν=p2p±1. Our work provides a practical scheme for engineering flat Chern bands, implementing FCI phase and opening up new possibilities for exploring strongly correlated flat band physics analogous to that in moiré systems using ultracold atoms.

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