High conductivity from cross-band electron pairing in flat-band systems

Abstract

Electrons in condensed matter may transition into a variety of broken-symmetry phase states due to electron-electron interactions. Applying diverse mean-field approximations to the interaction term is arguably the simplest way to identify the phase states theoretically possible in a given setting. Here, we explore electron-electron attraction in a two-band system comprising symmetric conduction and valence bands touching each other at a single point. We assume a mean-field pairing between the electrons having opposite spins, momenta, and, in contrast to the conventional superconducting pairing, residing in opposite bands, i.e., having opposite energies. We show that electrons transition into a novel correlated ground state if and only if the bands are flat enough, i.e. the transition is impossible in the case of conventional parabolic bands. Although this state is not superconducting in the usual sense and does not exhibit a gap in its excitation spectrum, it is nevertheless immune to elastic scattering caused by any kind of disorder, and is therefore expected to exhibit high electric conductivity at low temperature, mimicking the behavior of a real superconductor. Having in mind the recent experimental realizations of flat-band electronic systems in twisted multilayers, we foresee an exciting opportunity for observing a new class of highly conductive materials.