Magnetism in a Transition Metal Dichalcogenide Moiré System

Moiré heterostructures of van der Waals (vdW) materials offer a versatile and tunable two-dimensional platform for investigating strongly correlated physics, with electron density and electric field tunability as key advantages. Leveraging the remarkable optical properties of transition metal dichalcogenides, recent studies have focused on exploring magnetic correlations in these systems. In particular, heterostructures made from MoSe₂ and WS₂ have emerged as promising systems for investigating quantum magnetism, including phenomena like Nagaoka ferromagnetism [L. Ciorciaro et al., Nature 623, 509–513 (2023)]. Recent experiments [B. Polovnikov et al., arXiv:2404.05494] also hint at the presence of Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yosida (RKKY) interactions in such systems. In this talk, I will discuss our current project to design a MoSe₂/WS₂ vdW heterostructure with enhanced tunnel coupling between the layers, aiming toward the realization of a Kondo lattice. In particular, I will present our ongoing experimental efforts to detect RKKY magnetism by using magnetic circular dichroism to probe the system’s magnetization at low temperatures.