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Bao, Changhua ; Eggers, Vincent ; Meierhofer, Manuel ; Helml, Jakob ; Münster, Lasse ; Ito, Suguru ; Machtl, Leon ; Zajusch, Sarah ; Inzani, Giacomo ; Wittmann, Ludwig ; Liebich, Marlene ; Wallauer, Robert ; Höfer, Ulrich ; Huber, Rupert

Observation of an isolated flat band in the van der Waals crystal NbOCl2

Article

Bao, Changhua, Eggers, Vincent, Meierhofer, Manuel , Helml, Jakob , Münster, Lasse, Ito, Suguru, Machtl, Leon, Zajusch, Sarah, Inzani, Giacomo, Wittmann, Ludwig, Liebich, Marlene , Wallauer, Robert, Höfer, Ulrich and Huber, Rupert (2026) Observation of an isolated flat band in the van der Waals crystal NbOCl2. Communications Materials 7 (60).

DOI to cite this document: 10.5283/epub.78695


Abstract

Dispersionless electronic bands lead to an extremely high density of states and suppressed kinetic energy, thereby increasing electronic correlations and instabilities that can shape emergent ordered states, such as excitonic, ferromagnetic, and superconducting phases. A flat band that extends over the entire momentum space and is well isolated from other dispersive bands is, therefore, ...

Dispersionless electronic bands lead to an extremely high density of states and suppressed kinetic energy, thereby increasing electronic correlations and instabilities that can shape emergent ordered states, such as excitonic, ferromagnetic, and superconducting phases. A flat band that extends over the entire momentum space and is well isolated from other dispersive bands is, therefore, particularly interesting. Here, the band structure of the van der Waals crystal NbOCl2 is revealed by utilizing photoelectron momentum microscopy. We directly map out an electronic band that is flat throughout the entire Brillouin zone and features a width of only ~ 100 meV. This band is well isolated from both the conduction and remote valence bands. Moreover, the quasiparticle band gap shows a high tunability upon the deposition of cesium atoms on the surface. By combining the single-particle band structure with the optical transmission spectrum, the optical gap is identified. The fully isolated flat band in a van der Waals crystal provides a qualitatively new testbed for exploring flat-band physics.



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Details

Item typeArticle
Journal or Publication TitleCommunications Materials
PublisherSpringer
Open Access TypeDEAL (Springer Gold)
Volume7
Number of Issue or Book Chapter60
Date10 January 2026
Date of publication16 Feb 2026 12:14
InstitutionsPhysics > Institute of Experimental and Applied Physics
Physics > Institute of Experimental and Applied Physics > Chair Professor Huber > Group Rupert Huber
Projects
Funded by: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) (314695032)
Funded by: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) (445487514)
Funded by: Europäische Kommission (EU) (101071259)
Funded by: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) (UNSPECIFIED)
Identification Number
ValueType
10.1038/s43246-025-01070-0DOI
KeywordsElectronic properties and materials
Dewey Decimal Classification500 Science > 530 Physics
StatusPublished
RefereedYes, this version has been refereed
Created at the University of RegensburgPartially
URN of the UB Regensburgurn:nbn:de:bvb:355-epub-786954
Item ID78695

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