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The ability to identify and characterize spontaneous symmetry breaking is central to our understanding of 2D materials with strong correlation, such as the moiré flat bands in magicangle twisted graphene bilayer and trilayer. In this work, we utilize angle-resolved measurements of transport nonreciprocity to investigate spontaneous symmetry breaking in twisted trilayer graphene. By analyzing the angular dependence of nonreciprocity in both longitudinal and transverse channels, we are able to identify the symmetry axis associated with the underlying electronic order. We report that a hysteretic rotation in the mirror axis can be induced by thermal cycles and a large current bias, which offers unambiguous evidence for the spontaneous breaking of rotational symmetry. Moreover, the onset of nonreciprocity with decreasing temperature coincides with the emergence of orbital ferromagnetism. Combined with the angular dependence of the superconducting diode effect, our findings uncover a direct link between rotational and timereversal symmetry breaking. These symmetry requirements point towards the exchange-driven instabilities in the momentum space as a possible origin for transport nonreciprocity in tTLG.

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• In Copyright
  

  This version of the article has been accepted for publication, after peer review (when applicable) and is subject to Springer Nature’s AM terms of use, but is not the Version of Record and does not reflect post-acceptance improvements, or any corrections. The Version of Record is available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41563-024-01809-z

Keyword: Spontaneous symmetry breaking, Transport nonreciprocity, Twisted trilayer graphene (tTLG)

Date published: 2024-02-22

Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Journal:

• Nature Materials (ISSN: 14764660) vol. 23 issue. 3 p. 356-362

Funding:

• NSF | Directorate for Mathematical & Physical Sciences | Division of Materials Research 2143384
• NSF | Directorate for Mathematical & Physical Sciences | Division of Materials Research 2143384
• NSF | Directorate for Mathematical & Physical Sciences | Division of Materials Research DMR- 1644779
• Jun-Qi fellowship
• Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology JPMXP0112101001
• Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology JPMXP0112101001
• MEXT | Japan Society for the Promotion of Science 19H05790
• MEXT | Japan Society for the Promotion of Science 20H00354
• MEXT | Japan Society for the Promotion of Science 21H05233
• MEXT | Japan Society for the Promotion of Science 19H05790
• United States Department of Defense | United States Air Force | AFMC | Air Force Office of Scientific Research FA9550-23-1-0482
• MEXT | Japan Society for the Promotion of Science 20H00354
• MEXT | Japan Society for the Promotion of Science 21H05233
• Simons Investigator Award

Manuscript type: Author's version (Accepted manuscript)

MDR DOI:

First published URL: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-024-01809-z

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Updated at: 2025-09-03 08:30:15 +0900

Published on MDR: 2025-09-03 08:19:11 +0900