Kavli Affiliate: Jie Shan
| First 5 Authors: Zhongdong Han, Zhongdong Han, , ,
| Summary:
Topological Kondo insulators (TKIs) are topologically protected insulating
states induced not by single-particle band inversions, but by the Kondo
interaction between itinerant electrons and a lattice of local magnetic
moments. Although experiments have suggested the emergence of three-dimensional
(3D) TKIs in the rare earth compound SmB6, its two-dimensional (2D) counterpart
has not been demonstrated to date. Here we report experimental evidence of a
TKI in angle-aligned MoTe2/WSe2 moir’e bilayers, which support a Kondo lattice
with topologically nontrivial Kondo interactions. We prepare in a dual-gated
device a triangular lattice Mott insulator in the MoTe2 layer Kondo-coupled to
a half-filled itinerant band in the WSe2 layer. Combined transport and
compressibility measurements show that the prepared state supports metallic
transport at high temperatures and, at low temperatures, an insulating bulk
with conducting helical edge states protected by spin-Sz conservation. The
presence of Kondo singlets is further evidenced by their breakdown at high
magnetic fields. Such behaviors are in stark contrast to the simple metallic
state when the Mott insulator in the MoTe2 layer is depleted by gating. Our
results open the door for exploring tunable topological Kondo physics in
moir’e materials.
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