Moiré commensurability and the quantum anomalous Hall effect in twisted bilayer graphene on hexagonal boron nitride

Abstract

The quantum anomalous Hall (QAH) effect is sometimes observed in twisted bilayer graphene (tBG) when it is nearly aligned with an encapsulating hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) layer. We propose that the appearance or absence of the QAH effect in individual devices could be related to commensurability between the graphene/graphene and graphene/hBN moir\'e patterns. We identify a series of points in the $(\theta_{\rm GG},\theta_{\rm GBN})$ twist-angle space at which the two moir\'e patterns are commensurate, allowing moir\'e band theory to be applied, and show that the band Chern numbers are in this case sensitive to a rigid in-plane hBN displacement. Given this property, we argue that the QAH effect is likely only when i) the $(\theta_{\rm GG},\theta_{\rm GBN})$ twist-angle-pair is close enough to a commensurate point that the two moir\'e patterns yield a supermoir\'e pattern with a sufficiently long length scale, and ii) the supermoir\'e has a percolating topologically non-trivial QAH phase. For twist angles far from commensurability, the hBN layer acts as a source of disorder that can destroy the QAH effect. Our proposal can explain a number of current experimental observations. Further experimental studies that can test this proposal more directly are suggested.