Remote Moire Modulation of Decoupled Dirac Subsystems in Twisted Trilayer Graphene

Abstract

Moire superlattices are generally assumed to act only at the interface where lattice mismatch or twist occurs. Here, we study charge transport in large-angle helical twisted trilayer graphene, where interlayer tunneling is strongly reduced. When only the top monolayer graphene is aligned with hBN, the electronic response reorganizes into a moire-modulated monolayer and a remaining twisted bilayer graphene subsystem. Despite the absence of any explicit structural moire in the twisted bilayer, we observe satellite-like features in its electronic response that run parallel to the primary spectrum and are locked to the density scale of the hBN/graphene moire. These observations are consistent with a weak moire-periodic electrostatic perturbation generated at the aligned interface and sensed by a spatially separated Dirac subsystem, even in the absence of coherent interlayer coupling.