Wide-range T 2 resistivity and umklapp scattering in moiré graphene

We argue that the unusually strong electron–electron interactions in the narrow bands in moiré superlattices originate from compact Wannier orbitals. Enhanced overlaps of electronic wavefunctions, enabled by such orbitals, result in a strong el–el superlattice umklapp scattering. We identify the umk...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Hiroaki Ishizuka, Leonid Levitov
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IOP Publishing 2022-01-01
Series:New Journal of Physics
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/ac688c
Description
Summary:We argue that the unusually strong electron–electron interactions in the narrow bands in moiré superlattices originate from compact Wannier orbitals. Enhanced overlaps of electronic wavefunctions, enabled by such orbitals, result in a strong el–el superlattice umklapp scattering. We identify the umklapp scattering processes as a source of the strong temperature-dependent resistivity observed in these systems. In a simple model, the umklapp scattering predicts a T -dependent resistivity that grows as T ^2 with a numerical prefactor that grows as the Wannier orbital radius decreases. We quantify the enhancement in el–el scattering by the Kadowaki–Woods (KW) ratio, a quantity that is sensitive to umklapp scattering but, helpfully, insensitive to the effects due to the high density of electronic states. Our analysis predicts anomalously large KW ratio values that clearly indicate the importance of the umklapp el–el processes and their impact on the T -dependent resistivity.
ISSN:1367-2630