Patterned bilayer graphene as a tunable, strongly correlated system

Abstract

Recent observations of superconductivity in Moire graphene 1 have lead to an intense interest in that system, with subsequent studies revealing a more complex phase diagram including correlated insulators and ferromagnetic phases. Here we propose an alternate system, electrostatically patterned bilayer graphene (PBG), in which a supermodulation is induced via metallic gates rather than the moire effect. We show that, by varying either the gap or the modulation strength, bilayer graphene can be tuned into the strongly correlated regime. Further calculations show that this is not possible in monolayer graphene. We present a general technique for addressing Coulomb screening of the periodic potential and demonstrate that this system is experimentally feasible.