Layer-Hybridized Wigner Crystals in MoSe2/WS2 Moiré Superlattice
Abstract
Transition metal dichalcogenide moir\'e heterobilayers with type-II band alignment provide a versatile platform for layer-polarized generalized Wigner crystals, in which strong Coulomb interactions drive charge ordering at fractional lattice fillings. With a finite interlayer band offset, an out-of-plane electric field can tune layer-resolved moir\'e bands through resonance and enable controllable interlayer hybridization. Although hybridized Mott insulators have been previously demonstrated, whether fractional charge-ordered states can survive such hybridization remains elusive. Here we drive an H-stacked MoSe2/WS2 moir\'e heterobilayer through a type-I-to-type-II band-alignment transition and realize layer-hybridized Mott insulator and generalized Wigner crystals. For fillings below one electron per moir\'e cell, tunneling delocalizes electrons and modifies Wigner crystallization. However, above one electron per cell, Coulomb repulsion overcomes tunneling and favors layer-separated occupation, stabilizing stronger charge-ordered states. These results establish electrically tunable hybridized moir\'e heterobilayers as a powerful platform for engineering correlated charge order and exploring fractional Chern phases and emergent magnetism.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2608.01553,
title = {Layer-Hybridized Wigner Crystals in MoSe2/WS2 Moiré Superlattice},
author = {Tianyi Ouyang and Yuze Meng and Li Yan and Yuxuan Chen and Shuai Zhang and Xinyue Chen and Melike Erdi and Takashi Taniguchi and Kenji Watanabe and Seth Ariel Tongay and Benjamin Hunt and Ming Xie and Yong-Tao Cui and Su-Fei Shi},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2608.01553},
year = {2026}
}