Quantum anomalous Hall and magnetic insulating states in semiconductor moiré material

Electron correlation and topology are two central threads of modern condensed matter physics. Semiconductor moiré materials provide a highly tunable platform for studies of electron correlation. Here we report the observation of the electric-field-induced transition from a Mott insulator to a quantum anomalous Hall state and correlated magnetic insulating states in AB-stacked MoTe₂/WSe₂ moiré heterobilayers. An out-of-plane electric field controls bandwidth, charge transfer gap, and thus the band topology by intertwining moiré bands centered at different high symmetry stacking sites. At half band filling, we observe a series of correlated and topological electronic states, including Mott insulator, quantum anomalous Hall, and magnetic insulator. Our study paves the path for the discovery of a wealth of emergent phenomena arising from the combined influence of strong correlation and topology in semiconductor moiré materials.