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Programmable Quantum Anomalous Hall Insulator in Twisted Crystalline Flatbands

Wenxuan Wang1,*, Yijie Wang1,*, Zaizhe Zhang1, Zihao Huo1, Gengdong Zhou1, Shu Zhang2, Kenji Watanabe3, Takashi Taniguchi4, Xiaoxia Yang2 et al.

Qing Dai2,5, X. C. Xie1,6,7, Kaihui Liu8,†, Zhida Song1,9,‡, and Xiaobo Lu1,9,§

  • *These authors contributed equally to this work.
  • †Contact author: khliu@pku.edu.cn
  • ‡Contact author: songzd@pku.edu.cn
  • §Contact author: xiaobolu@pku.edu.cn
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Phys. Rev. X 16, 011015 – Published 26 January, 2026Erratum Phys. Rev. X 16, 039901 (2026)

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/7m1b-hxy8

Abstract

The isospin flavors in condensed matters can be continuously broken, forming various symmetry-broken quantum states. In moiré crystals, the competition between different isospin configurations can be effectively tuned by the twist angles and stacking orders. Here we report twisted double rhombohedral-trilayer-graphene as a new twisted crystalline flatband system showing rich moiré dependent topological phenomena. In devices with small twist angles, programmable Chern insulators with Chern number C=3 at integer moiré filling v=1 have been observed. We have further revealed an exotic hidden order which can quench the Chern insulator as well as multiple first-order transitions between different symmetry-broken phases. Interestly, in the device with a slightly larger twist angle, multiple Chern insulators with C=1 at fractional moiré fillings including v=1/4, 1/3, and 1/2 have been observed, whereas the Chern insulator at v=1 is absent. Our study demonstrated the twisted flatbands form rhombohedral-multilayer-graphene as a new platform to study tunable high Chern insulators as well as new devices for quantum storage and computation.

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Erratum

Erratum: Programmable Quantum Anomalous Hall Insulator in Twisted Crystalline Flatbands [Phys. Rev. X 16, 011015 (2026)]

Wenxuan Wang, Yijie Wang, Zaizhe Zhang, Zihao Huo, Gengdong Zhou, Shu Zhang, Kenji Watanabe, Takashi Taniguchi, Xiaoxia Yang, Qing Dai, X. C. Xie, Kaihui Liu, Zhida Song, and Xiaobo Lu
Phys. Rev. X 16, 039901 (2026)

Popular Summary

Quantum anomalous Hall insulators support dissipationless edge currents without magnetic fields but remain challenging to control experimentally. Here we demonstrate a programmable version of this topological state in twisted double rhombohedral trilayer graphene. By tuning the twist angle and gate voltage we generate flat electronic bands that host multiple quantum anomalous Hall phases, including high-Chern-number states and integer Chern insulators at fractional moiré fillings. We find that these states can be reversibly switched and distinct topological phases accessed simply by varying the carrier density and electric field. This tunable platform offers a promising route for exploring strongly correlated physics and developing energy efficient quantum memory devices.

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Outline

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Phys. Rev. X 16, 011015– Published 26 January, 2026
  • Received 5 September 2025
  • Revised 16 November 2025
  • Accepted 6 January 2026
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI.

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