The Quantum Twisting Microscope: Image quantum matter in momentum space

Jiewen Xiao, Weizmann Institute
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Mapping the energy–momentum dispersion of quantum materials is essential for understanding their strongly correlated electronic phenomena. I will introduce a new type of scanning probe microscope—the Quantum Twisting Microscope (QTM)—which enables direct momentum-space imaging of electrons, in close analogy to how a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) probes electronic states in real space. The QTM is based on a van-der-Waals (vdW) heterostructure on a tip, which, when brought into contact with another vdW sample, allows electrons to tunnel quantum coherently. This configuration turns the tip into a scanning electronic interferometer. By adding a controllable twist degree of freedom between tip and sample, QTM becomes a local, momentum-resolving scanning probe. In the first part of the talk, I will show how the QTM can directly image phonon modes in twisted bilayer graphene, providing momentum- and mode-resolved access to electron–phonon coupling. In the second part, I will present the first momentum-space image of the strongly interacting energy bands of magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene (MATBG), offering a direct visualization of its underlying correlated electronic structure.

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