Spin-orbital magnetism in moiré Wigner molecules

Ahmed Khalifa, Rokas Veitas, Francisco Machado, Shubhayu Chatterjee
(2025)
arXiv:2507.06307

Abstract

The interplay of spin and orbital degrees of freedom offers a versatile playground for the realization of a variety of correlated phases of matter. However, the types of spin-orbital interactions are often limited and challenging to tune. Here, we propose and analyze a new platform for spin-orbital interactions based upon a lattice of Wigner molecules in moiré transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs). Leveraging the spin-orbital degeneracy of the low-energy Hilbert space of each Wigner molecule, we demonstrate that TMD materials can host a general spin-orbital Hamiltonian that is tunable via the moiré superlattice spacing and dielectric environments. We study the phase diagram for this model, revealing a rich landscape of phases driven by spin-orbital interactions, ranging from ferri-electric valence bond solids to a helical spin liquid. Our work establishes moiré Wigner molecules in TMD materials as a prominent platform for correlated spin-orbital phenomena.