Professor Jennifer Cano
Stony Brook University
Engineering Topological Phases with a Superlattice Potential
Location: 1080 Physics Research Building, Smith Seminar Room
Faculty Host: Yuan-Ming Lu
Abstract: We propose an externally imposed superlattice potential as a platform for manipulating topological phases, which has both advantages and disadvantages compared to a moiré superlattice. In the first example, we apply the superlattice potential to the 2D surface of a 3D topological insulator. The superlattice potential creates tunable van Hove singularities, which, when combined with strong spin-orbit coupling and Coulomb repulsion give rise to a topological meron lattice spin texture. Thus, the superlattice potential provides a new route to the long sought-after goal of realizing spontaneous magnetic order on the surface of a 3D TI. In the second example, we show that a superlattice potential applied to Bernal-stacked bilayer graphene can generate flat Chern bands, similar to in twisted bilayer graphene, whose bandwidth can be as small as a few meV. The superlattice potential offers flexibility in both lattice size and geometry, making it a promising alternative to achieve designer flat bands without a moiré heterostructure.
Bio: Jennifer Cano is a theoretical physicist studying topological phases of matter in both weakly and strongly correlated systems. She received her PhD in 2015 from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and then spent three years as a postdoctoral fellow at the Princeton Center for Theoretical Science. In 2018 she started a faculty appointment at Stony Brook University, where she is now an Associate Professor. Jennifer is also a Visiting Scholar at the Center for Computational Quantum physics at the Flatiron Institute. Jennifer’s research as been recognized by several awards including a Sloan Research Fellowship and an NSF Career Award.
