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Dielectric catastrophe at the Wigner-Mott transition in a moiré superlattice

Cornell Affiliated Author(s)

Author

Y. Tang
J. Gu
S. Liu
K. Watanabe
T. Taniguchi
J.C. Hone
K.F. Mak
J. Shan

Abstract

The bandwidth-tuned Wigner-Mott transition is an interaction-driven phase transition from a generalized Wigner crystal to a Fermi liquid. Because the transition is generally accompanied by both magnetic and charge-order instabilities, it remains unclear if a continuous Wigner-Mott transition exists. Here, we demonstrate bandwidth-tuned metal-insulator transitions at fixed fractional fillings of a MoSe2/WS2 moiré superlattice. The bandwidth is controlled by an out-of-plane electric field. The dielectric response is probed optically with the 2s exciton in a remote WSe2 sensor layer. The exciton spectral weight is negligible for the metallic state with a large negative dielectric constant. It continuously vanishes when the transition is approached from the insulating side, corresponding to a diverging dielectric constant or a ‘dielectric catastrophe’ driven by the critical charge dynamics near the transition. Our results support the scenario of continuous Wigner-Mott transitions in two-dimensional triangular lattices and stimulate future explorations of exotic quantum phases in their vicinities. © 2022, The Author(s).

Date Published

Journal

Nature Communications

Volume

13

Issue

1

URL

https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85134770240&doi=10.1038%2fs41467-022-32037-1&partnerID=40&md5=6678e74eb54f643ca973a7e8d967f41a

DOI

10.1038/s41467-022-32037-1

Group (Lab)

Jie Shan Group
Kin Fai Mak Group

Funding Source

DMR-2114535
W911NF-17-1-0605
DE-SC0019481
NNCI-2025233
JPMJCR15F3

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