One-dimensional Luttinger liquids in a two-dimensional moiré lattice

The Luttinger liquid (LL) model of one-dimensional (1D) electronic systems provides a powerful tool for understanding strongly correlated physics, including phenomena such as spin–charge separation 1 . Substantial theoretical efforts have attempted to extend the LL phenomenology to two dimensions, especially in models of closely packed arrays of 1D quantum wires 2 – 13 , each being described as a LL. Such coupled-wire models have been successfully used to construct two-dimensional (2D) anisotropic non-Fermi liquids 2 – 6 , quantum Hall states 7 – 9 , topological phases 10 , 11 and quantum spin liquids 12 , 13 . However, an experimental demonstration of high-quality arrays of 1D LLs suitable for realizing these models remains absent. Here we report the experimental realization of 2D arrays of 1D LLs with crystalline quality in a moiré superlattice made of twisted bilayer tungsten ditelluride (tWTe 2 ). Originating from the anisotropic lattice of the monolayer, the moiré pattern of tWTe 2 hosts identical, parallel 1D electronic channels, separated by a fixed nanoscale distance, which is tuneable by the interlayer twist angle. At a twist angle of approximately 5 degrees, we find that hole-doped tWTe 2 exhibits exceptionally large transport anisotropy with a resistance ratio of around 1,000 between two orthogonal in-plane directions. The across-wire conductance exhibits power-law scaling behaviours, consistent with the formation of a 2D anisotropic phase that resembles an array of LLs. Our results open the door for realizing a variety of correlated and topological quantum phases based on coupled-wire models and LL physics. A tuneable platform using twisted WTe 2 stacks is described in which an electronic phase in the two-dimensional moiré lattice array is shown to resemble one-dimensional Luttinger liquids.