New theoretical approach to tackle interface quantum materials

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To overcome this issue, Kim and Arias developed Mismatched Interface Theory (MINT) to study such interfaces theoretically. Our first application of MINT is to the graphene/α-RuCl3 hetero-bilayer interface enabling a quantitative prediction of charge transfer between the two monolayers.

MINT is based on a simple principle and it uses established and widely available standard ab initio methods in each of its steps. Hence MINT is versatile and accessible, and we anticipate the application of this approach to produce many more exciting results in mismatched interface systems previously out of reach of ab initio studies.

E. Gerber et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 124, 106804 (2020) doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.124.106804


Technical Background:

Recent developments in twisted and lattice-mismatched bilayers have revealed a rich phase space of van der Waals systems and generated excitement. Among these systems are heterobilayers, which can offer new opportunities to control van der Waals systems with strong in plane correlations such as spin-orbit-assisted Mott insulator α-RuCl3. Nevertheless, a theoretical ab initio framework for mismatched heterobilayers without even approximate periodicity is sorely lacking. We propose a general strategy for calculating electronic properties of such systems, mismatched interface theory (MINT), and apply it to the graphene=α-RuCl3 (GR=α-RuCl3) heterostructure. Using MINT, we predict uniform doping of 4.77% from graphene to α-RuCl3 and magnetic interactions in α-RuCl3 to shift the system toward the Kitaev point. Hence, we demonstrate that MINT can guide targeted materialization of desired model systems and discuss recent experiments on GR=α-RuCl3 heterostructures.

 

The work was conducted by the PARADIM in-house research team with additional contributions from Cornell University.
 

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Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
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