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Interlayer Electric Multipole Hall Effect in Twisted Multilayers
Chengxin Xiao1,2,3, Cong Xiao4,5, Dawei Zhai1,3,6
1New Cornerstone Science Laboratory, Department of Physics, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong999077, China.
Nano Letters
|July 27, 2026
Summary
Twisted van der Waals materials exhibit a layer Hall effect (LHE) due to electron pseudospin textures. Multilayer systems display complex multipole Hall effects and magnetic multipoles, even without periodicity.
Area of Science:
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Materials Science
- Quantum Mechanics
Background:
- Electrons in layered van der Waals materials possess a layer pseudospin.
- Twisted structures induce nontrivial pseudospin textures, leading to phenomena like the layer Hall effect (LHE).
- Chiral bilayers show LHE as an interlayer electric dipole Hall effect with counterflows and magnetic dipoles.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate the layer-dependent Hall currents in multilayer twisted van der Waals materials.
- Explore the interlayer electric quadrupole Hall effect in mirror-symmetric twisted trilayers.
- Understand the influence of twist angles and doping on Hall current magnitudes.
Main Methods:
- Theoretical analysis of electron pseudospin textures in twisted van der Waals multilayers.
- Examination of interlayer electric multipole Hall effects and in-plane magnetic multipoles.
- Decomposition of Hall currents in large-angle twisted multilayers into contributions from individual interfaces.
Main Results:
- Multilayer systems exhibit richer layer-dependent Hall currents, generating interlayer electric multipole Hall effects.
- Interlayer translation effectively tunes layer Hall current magnitudes at small twist angles.
- At large angles and low doping, Hall currents can be approximated by summing contributions from individual twisted interfaces.
Conclusions:
- The study provides a framework for understanding complex Hall effects in twisted multilayer systems.
- Layer-resolved Hall currents can be determined in large-angle twisted multilayers without relying on periodicity.
- Findings advance the understanding of electronic properties and potential applications of van der Waals heterostructures.
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