Moiré bands in twisted double-layer graphene

Abstract

A moiré pattern is formed when two copies of a periodic pattern are overlaid with a relative twist. We address the electronic structure of a twisted two-layer graphene system, showing that in its continuum Dirac model the moiré pattern periodicity leads to moiré Bloch bands. The two layers become more strongly coupled and the Dirac velocity crosses zero several times as the twist angle is reduced. For a discrete set of magic angles the velocity vanishes, the lowest moiré band flattens, and the Dirac-point density-of-states and the counterflow conductivity are strongly enhanced.