Anomalous Bilayer Quantum Hall Effect

Abstract

In parallel to the condensed-matter realization of quantum Hall (Chern insulators), quantum spin Hall (topological insulators), and fractional quantum Hall (fractional Chern insulators) effects, we propose that bilayer flat band (FB) lattices with one FB in each layer constitute solid-state analogues of bilayer quantum Hall (BQH) system, leading to anomalous BQH (ABQH) effect, without magnetic field. By exact diagonalization of a bilayer Kagome lattice Hamiltonian, as a prototypical example, we demonstrate the stabilization of excitonic condensate Halperin's (1,1,1) state at the total filling $v_T=1$ of the two Fbs. Furthermore, by tuning the inter-layer tunneling and distance between the Kagome layers at $v_T=2/3$, we show phase transitions among Halperin's (3,3,0), spin-singlet (1,1,2), and particle-hole conjugate of Laughlin's 1/3 states, as previously observed in BQH systems. Our work opens a new research direction in the field of FB physics by demonstrating bilayer FB materials as an attractive avenue for realizing exotic ABQH states including non-Abelian anyons.