Evolution of flat band and role of lattice relaxations in twisted bilayer graphene

Qian Li, Hongyun Zhang, Yijie Wang, Wanying Chen, Changhua Bao, Qinxin Liu, Tianyun Lin, Shuai Zhang, Haoxiong Zhang, Kenji Watanabe, Takashi Taniguchi, Jose Avila, Pavel Dudin, Qunyang Li, Pu Yu, Wenhui Duan, Zhida Song, Shuyun Zhou

Published 2024-03-21Version 1

Magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene (MATBG) exhibits correlated phenomena such as superconductivity and Mott insulating state related to the weakly dispersing flat band near the Fermi energy. Beyond its moir\'e period, such flat band is expected to be sensitive to lattice relaxations. Thus, clarifying the evolution of the electronic structure with twist angle is critical for understanding the physics of MATBG. Here, we combine nanospot angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy to resolve the fine electronic structure of the flat band and remote bands, and their evolution with twist angles from 1.07$^\circ$ to 2.60$^\circ$. Near the magic angle, dispersion is characterized by a flat band near the Fermi energy with a strongly reduced bandwidth. Moreover, near 1.07$^\circ$, we observe a spectral weight transfer between remote bands at higher binding energy and extract the modulated interlayer spacing near the magic angle. Our work provides direct spectroscopic information on flat band physics and highlights the role of lattice relaxations.