Recently, the Hofstadter spectrum of a twisted WSe2/MoSe2 heterobilayer has been observed in experiment [C. R. Kometter, et al. Nat.Phys.19, 1861 (2023)], but the origin of Hofstadter states remains unclear. Here, we present a comprehensive theoretical interpretation of the observed Hofstadter states by calculating its accurate Hofstadter spectrum. We point out that the valley Zeeman effect, a unique feature of the transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) materials, plays a crucial role in determining the shape of the Hofstadter spectrum, due to the narrow bandwidth of the moir\'e bands. This is distinct from the graphene-based moir\'e systems. We further predict that the Hofstadter spectrum of the moir\'e flat band, which was not observed in experiment, can be observed in the same system with a larger twist angle 2∘≲θ≲3∘. Our theory paves the way for further studies of the interplay between the Hofstadter states and correlated insulting states in such moir\'e lattice systems.
@article{arxiv.2406.08044,
title = {Hofstadter spectrum in a semiconductor moir\'e lattice},
author = {Chen Zhao and Ming Wu and Zhen Ma and Miao Liang and Ming Lu and Jin-Hua Gao and X. C. Xie},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2406.08044},
year = {2024}
}