Chiral Decomposition of Twisted Graphene Multilayers with Arbitrary Stacking

Abstract: We formulate the chiral decomposition rules that govern the electronic structure of a broad family of twisted $N+M$ multilayer graphene configurations that combine arbitrary stacking order and a mutual twist. We show that at the magic angle in the chiral limit the low-energy bands of such systems are composed of chiral pseudospin doublets which are energetically entangled with two flat bands per valley induced by the moir\'e superlattice potential. The analytic analysis is supported by explicit numerical calculations based on realistic parameterization. We further show that applying vertical displacement fields can open up energy gaps between the pseudospin doublets and the two flat bands, such that the flat bands may carry nonzero valley Chern numbers. These results provide guidelines for the rational design of various topological and correlated states in generic twisted graphene multilayers.