Electronic localization in twisted bilayer MoS$_2$ with small rotation angle

Abstract: Moir\'e patterns are known to confine electronic states in transition metal dichalcogenide bilayers, thus generalizing the notion of magic angles discovered in twisted bilayer graphene to semiconductors. Here, we present a revised Slater-Koster tight-binding model that facilitates the first reliable and systematic studies of such states in twisted bilayer MoS$_2$ for the whole range of rotation angles $\theta$. We show that isolated bands appear at low energy for $\theta \lesssim 5 - 6^\circ$. Moreover, these bands become "flatbands", characterized by a vanishing average velocity, for the smallest angles $\theta \lesssim 2^\circ$.