- Letter
Flat bands and unconventional superconductivity in a simple model of metal-organic frameworks
Phys. Rev. B 111, L100503 – Published 10 March, 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.111.L100503
Abstract
We show that interference-induced flat bands (IFBs) are commonplace in reticular materials. For example, several metal-organic frameworks, including the superconductor Cu-BHT, form kagome lattices with metals at the vertices and ligands along the bonds. Similar bipartite motifs are common in reticular materials. A tight-binding model on this lattice yields partially occupied IFBs at half filling with large gaps between them and all other bands. Long-range hopping induces curvature in the bands but leaves them flatter and more isolated than those in twisted bilayer graphene. The slave boson theory of the model on this lattice shows unconventional superconductivity. Thus, crystal engineering of reticular materials provides a lattice-driven route to flat bands with high electronic densities, which promote exotic, strongly correlated phenomena.