Tunable van Hove singularities and correlated states in twisted monolayer-bilayer graphene

Understanding and tuning correlated states is of great interest and importance to modern condensed-matter physics. The recent discovery of unconventional superconductivity and Mott-like insulating states in magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene presents a unique platform to study correlation phenomena, in which the Coulomb energy dominates over the quenched kinetic energy as a result of hybridized flat bands. Extending this approach to the case of twisted multilayer graphene would allow even higher control over the band structure because of the reduced symmetry of the system. Here we study electronic transport properties of twisted monolayer–bilayer graphene (a bilayer on top of monolayer graphene heterostructure). We observe the formation of van Hove singularities that are highly tunable by changing either the twist angle or external electric field and can cause strong correlation effects under optimum conditions. We provide basic theoretical interpretations of the observed electronic structure. A structure of monolayer and bilayer graphene with a small twist between them shows correlated insulating states that can be tuned by changing the twist angle or applying an electric field.