Angular interplay of nematicity, superconductivity and strange metallicity in magic-angle twisted trilayer graphene

Nature Physics (2026)Cite this article Superconductivity in strongly correlated electron systems often exhibits broken rotational symmetry. However, transport anisotropy is typically already present in the metallic phase above the superconducting transition, raising the question of whether the rotation symmetry breaking in the superconducting state is intrinsic to the order parameter or inherited from an anisotropic normal state. Here we demonstrate that electronic nematicity—which is driven by Coulomb-mediated rotational symmetry breaking—serves as a crucial link to understanding the relationship between superconductivity and strange metallicity. We identify an angular interplay among nematicity, superconductivity and strange metallicity in magic-angle twisted trilayer graphene through angle-resolved transport measurement. Specifically, the preferred superconducting transport direction aligns with the principal axis of the metallic phase that exhibits the maximum resistivity, whereas the strange metal behaviour is locked to the principal axis of the metallic phase with the lowest resistivity. These results place strong constraints on the symmetry of the superconducting order parameter, revealing a pathway for probing the microscopic mechanisms that govern superconductivity in strongly interacting two-dimensional systems.This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription $32.99 / 30 days cancel any timeSubscribe to this journal Receive 12 print issues and online access $259.00 per yearonly $21.58 per issueBuy this articleUSD 39.95Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkoutAdditional data are available from the corresponding author upon request. 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K.W. and T.T. acknowledge support from the JSPS KAKENHI (grant nos. 21H05233 and 23H02052) and World Premier International Research Center Initiative (WPI), MEXT, Japan. Part of this work was enabled by the use of pyscan available via GitHub at github.com/sandialabs/pyscan, scientific measurement software made available by the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies, an Office of Science User Facility operated for the US Department of Energy.Department of Physics, Brown University, Providence, RI, USANaiyuan J. Zhang, Yibang Wang & J.I.A. LiDepartment of Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USAPavel A. Nosov, Ophelia Evelyn Sommer & Eslam KhalafResearch Center for Functional Materials, National Institute for Materials Science, Tsukuba, JapanKenji WatanabeInternational Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics, National Institute for Materials Science, Tsukuba, JapanTakashi TaniguchiDepartment of Physics, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USAJ.I.A. LiSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarN.J.Z. and J.I.A.L. conceived the project. N.J.Z. and Y.W. fabricated the sample and performed the measurements. N.J.Z., Y.W. and J.I.A.L. analysed the data. P.A.N., O.E.S. and E.K. provided theoretical input. K.W. and T.T. provided material. N.J.Z., P.A.N., O.E.S., E.K. and J.I.A.L. wrote the manuscript.Correspondence to J.I.A. Li.The authors declare no competing interests.Nature Physics thanks Yuan Cao and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.Top: schematic of the sunflower-geometry device and the measurement configuration used to probe the angular dependence of R∥ (same as Fig. 1a). Bottom: angular dependence of VAB (open circles), defined as the voltage response between contacts A and B. The longitudinal resistance is given by R∥ = VAB/Ibias. By rotating the current-voltage configuration in 45° steps, we extract R∥(ϕ) over a full 360° range.Each panel displays the angular dependence of VAB for a specific measurement configuration in the sunflower geometry. The black solid lines represent a global fit to all data points using a single conductivity matrix, following the theoretical framework of Ref. [25]. The gray bands represent systematic uncertainty in the fit estimated taking in account for finite contact width (reported as half-range).Source data(a) Black solid line: R-T curve measured with a small current bias, showing the superconducting transition around T = 2 K. Black dashed line: R-T curve measured with a large current bias of 175 nA, showing the temperature dependence of the normal state. A common convention is to define Tc as the temperature where the resistance reaches 50% of the normal-state value (blue dotted line). In this work, we define T0 as the temperature where the resistance reaches 20% of the normal-state value (black dotted line), and Tonset as the temperature where it reaches 90% (red dotted line). (b) Angular dependence of Tonset, Tc, and T0.Source data(a) Angle-resolved transport on the metallic state measured at T = 5 K and ν = 1.8. (b) The angular dependence of critical super current, extracted from IV curves, measured in the superconducting phase at ν = 1.8.Source dataHere, we report angular response of a different tTLG sample with twist angle of θ = 1.45°. (a) Angle-resolved transport on the metallic state measured with a small current bias of I = 5 nA, at T = 2.5 K and ν =-2.35. (b) Angle-resolved transport on the metallic state, where superconductivity is suppressed by a large d.c. current bias of 175 nA, measured at T = 20 mK and ν =-2.35. (c) Temperature dependence of α, extracted from the angular dependence of R∥ and R⊥ measured at a small current bias of I = 5 nA (red circles) and a large bias of I = 175 nA. The red circles exhibit a sharp onset around T = 1.5 K, deviating from the high temperature behavior. This reflects the onset of superconductivity, inducing a rotation in the direction of principal axis, mirroring the same response as Fig. 2g. (d) The angular dependence of onset temperature (Tonset, upper panel) and critical super current (Ic, lower panel) measured in the superconducting phase at ν =-2.35.Source data(a) αI, αT, and αM as a function of ν across the superconducting dome. αI and αT are defined according to Fig. 2, while αM is extracted from the angular dependence of R∥ and R⊥ measured at T = 20 mK and Idc = 170 nA (open black circles), and at T = 5 K and Idc = 5 nA (solid black circles). (b) The temperature dependence of ΔR/R0 measured in the high-doping regime at ν =-2.6. Red circles, measured with a small d.c. current (Idc = 5 nA), reflect the onset of superconductivity in the fluctuation regime. Black circles, measured with a large d.c. current (Idc = 170 nA), reflect the temperature dependence of the metallic phase where superconductivity is fully suppressed. (c) Angular dependence of R∥ and R⊥ measured with a small d.c. current bias in the fluctuation regime at ν =-2.6. The angular dependence influenced by superconducting transport, shown as red solid lines in the polar-coordinate plots, is compared to that of the metallic phase (black solid lines). The angular oscillation in the R⊥ channel directly reflects the strength of anisotropy. This comparison indicates that the onset of superconductivity in the high-doping regime suppresses anisotropy compared to the metallic phase, consistent with the reported behavior in Fig. 2.Source dataDifferential resistance dV/dI, measured in the R∥ configuration from the tTLG sample with twist angle of θ= 1.45°, as a function of moiré filling ν and d.c. current bias Idc. White and black dashed lines mark the peak positions of dV/dI.Source dataThe angular dependence of transport responses measured at (a)–(c) ν =-3.35 and (d)–(f) ν = +3.00 after consecutive temperature cycles. During the first thermal cycle, the temperature is raised to 300 K and then cooled back down to T = 2 K; during the second cycle, the temperature is raised to 30 K and then cooled back down to T = 2 K. Angle-resolved transport measurements are performed after the sample reaches T = 2 K following each cycle. The black solid traces denote the best fit of the angular dependence according to Eq. 1 and 2. The orientation of the principal axis is highlighted by green solid lines in the polar-coordinate plots.Source data(a)–(b) Principal axis orientation α extracted from the angle-resolved transport, as a function of temperature, measured during first (a) and second (b) cool down. Green open circles denote α extracted from measurement with small a.c. current Iac = 5nA. Black open circles denote α extracted from measurement with superconductivity suppressed with large d.c. current Idc = 170nA. Blue and orange open circles denote αI extracted from angle-resolved transport of critical current during first and second cool down. (c)–(d) Angular dependence of critical current Ic (top) measured at T = 20mK, R∥ (middle) and R⊥ (bottom) measured at T = 3.5 K, during the first cool down (c) and second cool down (d). All data measured at the optimal doping of superconductivity, α = -2.5.Source dataSupplementary Figs. 1–7 and Text.Source data for Fig. 1. Temperature–density map of R∥ and ΔR/R0, density dependence of ΔR/R0 at 2 K and temperature dependence of ΔR/R0 with different twist angles.Source data for Fig. 2. dV/dI versus Idc; angle dependence of the Ic, R∥ and R⊥ in the metallic state; T0, Tonset; and temperature dependence of R||, ΔR/R0 and αM.Source data for Fig. 3. Hysteretic behaviour of both metallic state and superconducting state angle dependence.Source data for Fig. 4. Temperature dependence of R∥ at different densities, measured from different directions; hysteretic behaviour of linear-in-T behaviour along different directions; and hysteretic behaviour of angle dependence.Example data of extended angle-resolved transport method.Angle dependence of Tc. See Fig. 2 for more data.Angle dependence of R∥ and R⊥ and Ic at ν = 1.8.Angle dependence near superconductivity for 1.45° twisted trilayer graphene sample.Density dependence of alpha over the superconducting regime, temperature dependence of ΔR/R0 at nu = −2.6 and angle dependence at ν = −2.6, T = 1.3 K.IVn from two different directions.Hysteretic behaviour of metallic state; from both 300 K and 30 K thermal cycle.Hysteretic behaviour of superconductivity.Springer Nature or its licensor (for example a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.Reprints and permissionsZhang, N.J., Nosov, P.A., Sommer, O.E. et al. Angular interplay of nematicity, superconductivity and strange metallicity in magic-angle twisted trilayer graphene. Nat. Phys. (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-026-03202-wDownload citationReceived: 06 May 2025Accepted: 30 January 2026Published: 16 March 2026Version of record: 16 March 2026DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-026-03202-wAnyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article. Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative