Classification and Distinction of Possible Insulating Phases in Twisted Bilayer Graphene by Impurity Effects

In this work the effects of impurity in various insulating phases of the twisted bilayer graphene (TBG) are studied. The well-accepted continuum model\cite{b} is employed and the local density of states (DOS) is calculated. It is found that insulating phases breaking different symmetries proposed in previous theories\cite{pa,op1,Lee_2019} are distinguishable via the number and properties of in-gap bound state peaks induced by impurities in local DOS. Insulating phases breaking the same previously proposed symmetries can be further classified by the remaining anti-unitary symmetries and distinguished by the corresponding remaining Kramers degeneracy of bound states. The in-gap bound state peaks in local DOS and the degeneracy of the bound states can in principle be detected in scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) experiments, and thus can help to the distinction of various insulating phases.