Continuous Mott transition in semiconductor moiré superlattices

Abstract

The evolution of a Landau Fermi liquid into a non-magnetic Mott insulator with increasing electronic interactions is one of the most puzzling quantum phase transitions in physics^1-6. The vicinity of the transition is believed to host exotic states of matter such as quantum spin liquids^4-7, exciton condensates⁸ and unconventional superconductivity¹. Semiconductor moiré materials realize a highly controllable Hubbard model simulator on a triangular lattice^9-22, providing a unique opportunity to drive a metal-insulator transition (MIT) via continuous tuning of the electronic interactions. Here, by electrically tuning the effective interaction strength in MoTe₂/WSe₂ moiré superlattices, we observe a continuous MIT at a fixed filling of one electron per unit cell. The existence of quantum criticality is supported by the scaling collapse of the resistance, a continuously vanishing charge gap as the critical point is approached from the insulating side, and a diverging quasiparticle effective mass from the metallic side. We also observe a smooth evolution of the magnetic susceptibility across the MIT and no evidence of long-range magnetic order down to ~5% of the Curie-Weiss temperature. This signals an abundance of low-energy spinful excitations on the insulating side that is further corroborated by the Pomeranchuk effect observed on the metallic side. Our results are consistent with the universal critical theory of a continuous Mott transition in two dimensions^4,23.