Spectroscopy Signatures of Electron Correlations in a Trilayer Graphene/hBN Moiré Superlattice

ABC-stacked trilayer graphene/hBN moir\'e superlattice (TLG/hBN) has emerged as a playground for correlated electron physics. We report spectroscopy measurements of dual-gated TLG/hBN using Fourier transformed infrared photocurrent spectroscopy. We observed a strong optical transition between moir\'e mini-bands that narrows continuously as a bandgap is opened by gating, indicating a reduction of the single particle bandwidth. At half-filling of the valence flat band, a broad absorption peak emerges at ~18 meV, indicating direct optical excitation across an emerging Mott gap. Similar photocurrent spectra are observed in two other correlated insulating states at quarter- and half-filling of the first conduction band. Our findings provide key parameters of the Hubbard model for the understanding of electron correlation in TLG/hBN.
Comment: 17 pages; 4 figures; supplementary materials: 13 pages; Science (2022, in press)