- Letter
Doping a moiré Mott insulator: A model study of twisted cuprates
Phys. Rev. B 105, L201102 – Published 4 May, 2022
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.105.L201102
Abstract
We theoretically explore twisted cuprate multilayers, a moiré material family where the individual layers are themselves strongly correlated. We study the twisted t-J model, using a slave-boson mean field treatment that is compatible with Mott physics at small doping. Furthermore, we incorporate the interlayer tunneling form-factor dictated by the symmetry of the Cu orbital. Including both these features leads to a phase diagram distinct from earlier weak-coupling treatments that predicted large gap spontaneous topological superconductors. Instead, we find that spontaneous time reversal (T) breaking occurs around twist angle of , but only in a narrow window. Moreover, a nearly gapless superconductor is obtained, whose spectroscopic features parallels that in monolayer cuprates, despite the broken time reversal and reflection symmetries. At smaller however, driving an interlayer current can lead to a gapped topological phase. The energy-phase relation of the interlayer Josephson junction displays notable double-Cooper-pair tunneling which dominates around . The dependence of the Josephson critical current and the Shapiro steps are consistent with recent experiments. Utilizing the moiré structure as a probe of correlation physics, e.g., the pair density wave state, is discussed.