The graphene twist bilayer represents the prototypical system for investigating the stacking degree of freedom in few-layer graphenes. The electronic structure of this system changes qualitatively as a function of angle, from a large-angle limit in which the two layers are essentially decoupled-with the exception of a 28-atom commensuration unit cell for which the layers are coupled on an energy scale of ≈8 meV-to a small-angle strong-coupling limit. Despite sustained investigation, a fully satisfactory theory of the twist bilayer remains elusive. The outstanding problems are (i) to find a theoretically unified description of the large-and small-angle limits, and (ii) to demonstrate agreement between the low-energy effective Hamiltonian and, for instance, ab initio or tight-binding calculations. In this article, we develop a low-energy theory that in the large-angle limit reproduces the symmetry-derived Hamiltonians of Mele [Phys. Rev. B 81, 161405 (2010)], and in the small-angle limit shows almost perfect agreement with tight-binding calculations. The small-angle effective Hamiltonian is that of Bistritzer and MacDonald [Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (U.S.A.) 108, 12233 (2011)], but with the momentum scale K, the difference of the momenta of the unrotated and rotated special points, replaced by a coupling momentum scale g (c) = 8π √ 3a sin θ 2. Using this small-angle Hamiltonian, we are able to determine the complete behavior as a function of angle, finding a complex small-angle clustering of van Hove singularities in the density of states (DOS) that after a "zero-mode" peak regime between 0.90 • < θ < 0.15 • limits θ < 0.05 • to a DOS that is essentially that of a superposition DOS of all bilayer stacking possibilities. In this regime, the Dirac spectrum is entirely destroyed by hybridization for −0.25 < E < 0.25 eV with an average band velocity ≈0.3v (SLG) F (where SLG denotes single-layer graphene). We study the fermiology of the twist bilayer in this limit, finding remarkably structured constant energy surfaces with multiple Lifshitz transitions between Kand-centered Fermi sheets and a rich pseudospin texture.

Parallel ("nested") regions of a Fermi surface (FS) drive instabilities of the electron fluid, for example the spin density wave in elemental chromium. In one-dimensional materials, the FS is trivially fully nested (a single nesting vector connects two "Fermi dots"), while in higher dimensions only a fraction of the FS consists of parallel sheets. We demonstrate that the tiny angle regime of twist bilayer graphene (TBLG) possess a phase, accessible by interlayer bias, in which the FS consists entirely of nestable "Fermi lines": the first example of a completely nested FS in a 2d material. This nested phase is found both in the ideal as well as relaxed structure of the twist bilayer. We demonstrate excellent agreement with recent STM images of topological states in this material and elucidate the connection between these and the underlying Fermiology. We show that the geometry of the "Fermi lines" network is controllable by the strength of the applied interlayer bias, and thus that TBLG offers unprecedented access to the physics of FS nesting in 2d materials. 1 arXiv:1908.08318v1 [cond-mat.mtrl-sci] 22 Aug 2019 of the FS consists of nested sheets) and notoriously difficult to control 10,11 . In contrast, the nesting exhibited by the twist bilayer is both complete (100% nested) and, as we show, can be fully controlled by tuning of the interlayer bias.This "nesting phase" of the twist bilayer is found in a large regime of angle-field space and is, remarkably, found both for the ideal twist geometry as well as the structural dislocation network that it reconstructs to at tiny angles 12-14 . The finding of a robust moiré-induced 2d "Fermi line" analogy of the 1d "Fermi dot" topology, controllable via bias, both offers unprecedented access to the physics of FS nesting, as well as highlighting the remarkable electronic structures that can be created by moiré geometries and their structural dislocation networks in 2d materials. II. RESULTS A. ModelThe physics of the tiny angle regime of the twist bilayer is an essentially multiscale problem involving both the lattice constant of graphene -the scale at which atomic relaxation 2 FIG. 1: Fully nested Fermiology in the graphene twist bilayer and the corresponding dislocation network (θ = 0.51 • , E = 90 mV/Å). Below ∼ 1 • twist bilayer graphene relaxes into an ordered network of dislocations, with the smoothly varying stacking order of the ideal twist geometry (a) becoming series of sharp AB and BA domains (b), each separated by pure shear partial dislocations with high von Mises strain (J 2 ) (c,d). Pseudo-magnetic fields of the order of 40 T are induced in the AB and BA regions with alternating sign between the latter (e,f). In the density of states (DOS) the zero mode is substantially broadened, with the valley region shifting upwards in energy (g).However, while atomic relaxation induces dramatic changes to the Fermiology in the zero mode region (l,m), in the valley region a remarkably stable Fermi topology of fully nested Fermi lines is seen (nesting vector indicated by...

We present a continuum theory of graphene treating on an equal footing both homogeneous Cauchy-Born (CB) deformation, as well as the microscopic degrees of freedom associated with the two sublattices. While our theory recovers all extant results from homogeneous continuum theory, the Dirac-Weyl equation is found to be augmented by new pseudo-gauge and chiral fields fundamentally different from those that result from homogeneous deformation. We elucidate three striking electronic consequences: (i) non-CB deformations allow for the transport of valley polarized charge over arbitrarily long distances e.g. along a designed ridge; (ii) the triaxial deformations required to generate an approximately uniform magnetic field are unnecessary with non-CB deformation; and finally (iii) the vanishing of the effects of a one dimensional corrugation seen in ab-initio calculation upon lattice relaxation are explained as a compensation of CB and non-CB deformation.

Phosphorescent metal complexes with peripheral N-H donor functionalities have attracted great attention as potential molecular sensing units for anionic species lately. In this contribution we discuss the development and potential of anion recognition and sensing features of recent examples of luminescent 2,2'-biimidazole complexes of ruthenium(II), iridium(III), osmium(II) and cobalt(III). The general dependency of photophysical features in these complexes regarding the acid-base chemistry of the peripheral N-H functionalities will be outlined as a basic requirement for optical ion recognition. Systematic strategies for the tuning and specific improvement by synthetic means will be discussed regarding recent reports. With respect to their distinct photophysical features, different transition metals are considered individually to demonstrate particular trends regarding ligand modification within the respective groups. In summary, this review elucidates the current state-of-the-art and future potential of the versatile class of 2,2'-biimidazole based sensor chromophores.

We have surveyed the in-plane transport properties of the graphene twist bilayer using (i) a lowenergy effective Hamiltonian for the underlying electronic structure, (ii) an isotropic elastic phonon model, and (iii) the linear Boltzmann equation for elastic electron-phonon scattering. We find that transport in the twist bilayer is profoundly sensitive to the rotation angle of the constituent layers. Similar to the electronic structure of the twist bilayer the transport is qualitatively different in three distinct angle regimes. At large angles (θ > ≈10• ) and at temperatures below an interlayer BlochGrüneisen temperature of ≈ 10 K the conductivity is independent of the twist angle i.e. the layers are fully decoupled. Above this temperature the layers, even though decoupled in the ground state, are re-coupled by electron-phonon scattering and the transport is different both from single layer graphene as well as the Bernal bilayer. In the small angle regime θ < ≈2• the conductivity drops by two orders of magnitude and develops a rich energy dependence, reflecting the complexity of the underlying topological changes (Lifshitz transitions) of the Fermi surface. At intermediate angles the conductivity decreases continuously as the twist angle is reduced, while the energy dependence of the conductivity presents two sharp transitions, that occur at specific angle dependent energies, and that may be related to (i) the well studied van Hove singularity of the twist bilayer and (ii) a Lifshitz transition that occurs when trigonally placed electron pockets decorate the strongly warped Dirac cone. Interestingly, we find that, while the electron-phonon scattering is dominated by layer symmetric flexural phonons in the small angle limit, at large angles, in contrast, it is the layer anti-symmetric flexural mode that is most important. We examine the role of a layer perpendicular electric field finding that it affects the conductivity strongly at low temperatures whereas this effect is washed out by Fermi smearing at room temperatures.