Emergence of ferromagnetism at the onset of moir\'e Kondo breakdown

Abstract

The interaction of a lattice of localized magnetic moments with a sea of conduction electrons in Kondo lattice models induces rich quantum phases of matter, such as Fermi liquids with heavily renormalized electronic quasiparticles, quantum critical non-Fermi liquid metals and unconventional superconductors, among others. The recent demonstration of moir\'e Kondo lattices has opened the door to investigate the Kondo problem with continuously tunable parameters. Although a heavy Fermi liquid phase has been identified in moir\'e Kondo lattices, the magnetic phases and Kondo breakdown transitions remain unexplored. Here we report a density-tuned Kondo destruction in AB-stacked MoTe2/WSe2 moir\'e bilayers by combining magneto transport and optical studies. As the itinerant carrier density decreases, the Kondo temperature decreases. At a critical density, we observe a heavy Fermi liquid to insulator transition, and a nearly concomitant emergence of ferromagnetic order. The observation is consistent with the scenario of a ferromagnetic Anderson insulator and suppression of the Kondo screening effect. Our results pave the path for inducing other exotic quantum phase transitions in moir\'e Kondo lattices.