Chiral limit and origin of topological flat bands in twisted transition metal dichalcogenide homobilayers

Abstract: The observation of zero field fractional quantum Hall analogs in twisted transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) asks for a deeper understanding of what mechanisms lead to topological flat bands in two-dimensional heterostructures, and what makes TMDs an excellent platform for topologically ordered phases, surpassing twisted bilayer graphene. To this aim, we explore the chiral limits of massive Dirac theories applicable to $C_3$-symmetric moir\'e materials, and show their relevance for both bilayer graphene and TMD homobilayers. In the latter, the Berry curvature of valence bands leads to relativistic corrections of the moir\'e potential that promote band flattening, and permit a limit with exactly flat bands with nonzero Chern number. The relativistic corrections enter as a \emph{layer-orbit coupling}, analogous to spin-orbit coupling for relativistic Dirac fermions, which we show is non-negligible on the moir\'e scale. The Berry curvature of the TMD monolayers therefore plays an essential role in the flattening of moir\'e Chern bands in these heterostructures.