Spontaneous isospin polarization and quantum Hall ferromagnetism in a rhombohedral trilayer graphene superlattice

Abstract

Moiré superlattices in van der Waals heterostructures have recently attracted enormous interests, due to the highly controllable electronic correlation that gives rise to superconductivity, ferromagnetism and nontrivial topological properties. To gain a deep understanding of such exotic properties, it is essential to clarify the broken symmetry between spin and valley flavors which universally exists in these ground states. Here in a rhombohedral trilayer graphene crystallographically aligned with a hexagonal boron nitride, we report various kinds of symmetrybreaking transition tuned by displacement fields (D) and magnetic fields: (1) While it’s well known that a finite D can enhance correlation to result in correlated insulators at fractional fillings of a flat band, we find the correlation gap emerges before the flavor is fully filled at a positive D, but the sequence is reversed at a negative D. (2) Around zero D, electronic correlation can be invoked by narrow Landau levels, leading to quantum Hall ferromagnetism that lifts all the degeneracies including not only spin and valley but also orbital degrees of freedom. Our result unveils the complication of transitions between symmetry-breaking phases, shedding light on the mechanisms of various exotic phenomena in strongly correlated systems.