Incipient superconductivity and tunable Chern insulators in twisted bilayer-trilayer graphene
Abstract
Moiré superlattices assembled by twisting Bernal and rhombohedral multilayer graphene host a rich set of interaction-driven magnetic and topological states, yet superconductivity has not been observed in these systems except in proximity to a transition-metal dichalcogenide. Here we report incipient superconductivity and tunable Chern insulators in twisted bilayer-trilayer graphene encapsulated by hexagonal boron nitride. Across twist angles from θ= 1.05∘ to 1.50∘, Chern insulators form at integer and fractional moiré fillings for electron doping, with Chern numbers up to |C| = 3 set by twist angle and tuned by doping. At θ= 1.18∘, a symmetry-broken metallic region forms for hole doping and hosts a trivial insulator at band filling ν= −2. Displacement field alone drives this insulator into a pocket of incipient superconductivity with a sharp transition, a well-defined critical current, and a critical temperature that peaks near the insulating boundary, although the resistance does not fall to zero. In-plane magnetic field expands the pocket, which persists to more than four times the weak-coupling Pauli limit, and stabilizes a second pocket in which Fraunhofer-like modulation of the critical current signals phase-coherent pairing. Twisted bilayer-trilayer graphene thus offers a single gate-tunable system in which pairing can be interfaced with Chern insulators whose topology is itself an adjustable parameter.
Related
- Coexistence of Superconductivity and Chern insulators with |C| ≥ 1 in twisted rhombohedral bilayer-trilayer graphene
- Phase-sensitive signatures of time-reversal-symmetry-breaking superconductivity in magic-angle twisted trilayer graphene
- Electrically Tunable Two-Component Exciton Condensate in a Coulomb-Coupled Graphene Trilayer
- Tunable topological narrow bands in twisted bilayer-trilayer graphene
- Spin-polarized Superconductivity and High-Chern Insulators in Twisted Rhombohedral Graphene Family
BibTeX
@misc{waleffe2026incipient,
title = {{Incipient superconductivity and tunable Chern insulators in twisted bilayer-trilayer graphene}},
author = {Derek Waleffe and Aryana Bhattacharyya and Manish Kumar and Eric Maginnis and Anna Okounkova and Tobias Faehndrich and Kenji Watanabe and Takashi Taniguchi and Joshua Folk and Matthew Yankowitz},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.30202},
eprint = {2609.30202},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.30202},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Incipient superconductivity and tunable Chern insulators in twisted bilayer-trilayer graphene
AU - Derek Waleffe
AU - Aryana Bhattacharyya
AU - Manish Kumar
AU - Eric Maginnis
AU - Anna Okounkova
AU - Tobias Faehndrich
AU - Kenji Watanabe
AU - Takashi Taniguchi
AU - Joshua Folk
AU - Matthew Yankowitz
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/29
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.30202
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.30202
AB - Moiré superlattices assembled by twisting Bernal and rhombohedral multilayer graphene host a rich set of interaction-driven magnetic and topological states, yet superconductivity has not been observed in these systems except in proximity to a transition-metal dichalcogenide. Here we report incipient superconductivity and tunable Chern insulators in twisted bilayer-trilayer graphene encapsulated by hexagonal boron nitride. Across twist angles from θ= 1.05^∘ to 1.50^∘, Chern insulators form at integer and fractional moiré fillings for electron doping, with Chern numbers up to |C| = 3 set by twist angle and tuned by doping. At θ= 1.18^∘, a symmetry-broken metallic region forms for hole doping and hosts a trivial insulator at band filling ν= −2. Displacement field alone drives this insulator into a pocket of incipient superconductivity with a sharp transition, a well-defined critical current, and a critical temperature that peaks near the insulating boundary, although the resistance does not fall to zero. In-plane magnetic field expands the pocket, which persists to more than four times the weak-coupling Pauli limit, and stabilizes a second pocket in which Fraunhofer-like modulation of the critical current signals phase-coherent pairing. Twisted bilayer-trilayer graphene thus offers a single gate-tunable system in which pairing can be interfaced with Chern insulators whose topology is itself an adjustable parameter.
ER -