Layer-Hybridized Wigner Crystals in MoSe2/WS2 Moiré Superlattice

Abstract

Transition metal dichalcogenide moiré heterobilayers with type-II band alignment provide a versatile platform for layer-polarized generalized Wigner crystals, in which strong Coulomb interactions drive charge ordering at fractional lattice fillings. With a finite interlayer band offset, an out-of-plane electric field can tune layer-resolved moiré bands through resonance and enable controllable interlayer hybridization. Although hybridized Mott insulators have been previously demonstrated, whether fractional charge-ordered states can survive such hybridization remains elusive. Here we drive an H-stacked MoSe2/WS2 moiré heterobilayer through a type-I-to-type-II band-alignment transition and realize layer-hybridized Mott insulator and generalized Wigner crystals. For fillings below one electron per moiré cell, tunneling delocalizes electrons and modifies Wigner crystallization. However, above one electron per cell, Coulomb repulsion overcomes tunneling and favors layer-separated occupation, stabilizing stronger charge-ordered states. These results establish electrically tunable hybridized moiré heterobilayers as a powerful platform for engineering correlated charge order and exploring fractional Chern phases and emergent magnetism.