Twistronics and moiré excitonic physics in van der Waals heterostructures

Abstract Heterostructures composed of two-dimensional van der Waals (vdW) materials allow highly controllable stacking, where interlayer twist angles introduce a continuous degree of freedom to alter the electronic band structures and excitonic physics. Motivated by the discovery of Mott insulating states and superconductivity in magic-angle bilayer graphene, the emerging research fields of “twistronics” and moiré physics have aroused great academic interests in the engineering of optoelectronic properties and the exploration of new quantum phenomena, in which moiré superlattice provides a pathway for the realization of artificial excitonic crystals. Here we systematically summarize the current achievements in twistronics and moiré excitonic physics, with emphasis on the roles of lattice rotational mismatches and atomic registries. Firstly, we review the effects of the interlayer twist on electronic and photonic physics, particularly on exciton properties such as dipole moment and spin-valley polarization, through interlayer interactions and electronic band structures. We also discuss the exciton dynamics in vdW heterostructures with different twist angles, like formation, transport and relaxation processes, whose mechanisms are complicated and still need further investigations. Subsequently, we review the theoretical analysis and experimental observations of moiré superlattice and moiré modulated excitons. Various exotic moiré effects are also shown, including periodic potential, moiré miniband, and varying wave function symmetry, which result in exciton localization, emergent exciton peaks and spatially alternating optical selection rule. We further introduce the expanded properties of moiré systems with external modulation factors such as electric field, doping and strain, showing that moiré lattice is a promising platform with high tunability for optoelectronic applications and in-depth study on frontier physics. Lastly, we focus on the rapidly developing field of correlated electron physics based on the moiré system, which is potentially related to the emerging quantum phenomena.