Exactly solvable spin liquids in Kitaev bilayers and moiré superlattices

Abstract

Building on the recent advancements on moiré superlattices, we propose an exactly solvable model with Kitaev-type interactions on a bilayer honeycomb lattice for both AA stacking and moiré superlattices. Using Monte Carlo simulations and variational analysis, we uncover a rich variety of phases where the intra and interlayer $\mathbb{Z}_2$ fluxes (visons) are arranged in a periodic fashion in the ground state, tuned by interlayer coupling and out-of-plane external magnetic field. We further extend our model to moiré superlattices at various commensurate twist angles around two distinct twist centers represented by $C_{3z}$ and $C_{6z}$ of the honeycomb lattice. Our simulations reveal generalized arrangements of plaquette values that correlate with the AA or AB stacking regions across the moiré unit cell. Moreover, we find that, depending on the twist angle, twist center and interlayer coupling, moiré superlattices exhibit to a variety of gapped and gapless spin liquid phases and can also host corner and edge modes. Our results highlight the rich physics in bilayer and twisted bilayer models of exactly solvable quantum spin liquids.