In 2018 it was discovered that two layers of graphene
twisted one with respect to the other by a “magic” angle show a
variety of interesting quantum phases, including superconductivity,
magnetism and insulating behaviors. Now, a team of researchers from
the Weizmann Institute of Science led by Prof. Shahal Ilani of the
Condensed Matter Physics Department, in collaboration with Prof.
Pablo Jarillo-Herrero’s group at MIT, have discovered that these
quantum phases descend from a previously unknown high-energy
“parent state” with an unusual breaking of symmetry.
A new symmetry-broken parent state discovered in twisted
bilayer graphene
