Microscopic signatures of topology in twisted MoTe2

E Thompson and KT Chu and F Mesple and XW Zhang and CW Hu and YZ Zhao and H Park and JQ Cai and E Anderson and K Watanabe and T Taniguchi and JH Yang and JH Chu and XD Xu and T Cao and D Xiao and M Yankowitz, NATURE PHYSICS, 21 (2025).

DOI: 10.1038/s41567-025-02877-x

In moir & eacute; materials with flat electronic bands and suitable quantum geometry, strong correlations can give rise to various topological states of matter. The non-trivial band topology of twisted MoTe2, which is responsible for its fractional quantum anomalous Hall states, is predicted to arise from a skyrmion lattice texture in the layer pseudospin of the electronic wavefunctions. Tracing the layer polarization of wavefunctions within the moir & eacute; unit cell can, thus, offer insights into the band topology. Here we measure the out-of- plane component of the layer-pseudospin skyrmion textures of twisted MoTe2 using scanning tunnelling microscopy and spectroscopy. We do this by simultaneously visualizing the moir & eacute; lattice structure and the spatial localization of its electronic states. We find that the wavefunctions associated with the topological flat bands exhibit a spatially dependent layer polarization within the moir & eacute; unit cell, in agreement with our theoretical modelling. Our work enables future local probe studies of the intertwined correlated and topological states arising in gate-tunable devices.

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