Laboratory of Advanced Functional Materials

Laboratory of Advanced Functional Materials is designed to further consolidate the potential of the research groups of the Institute of Physics in the fields of condensed matter physics, materials physics and materials science. Its research scope is devoted to the design and creation of a library of advanced functional materials comprising a vast variety of two-dimensional (2D) and van der Waals materials, van der Waals and Moiré heterostructures, and other quantum materials of reduced dimensionality aiming to devise fundamentally novel class of nanoscale optoelectronic devices and optical components.

Keywords: 2D materials, van der Waals materials, non-van der Waals 2D materials, van der Waals homo- and hetero- structures, Moiré materials, MXenes, Perovskites…

The recent paradigm shift that resulted in the discovery of a pool of 2D materials (starting with graphene) has attracted tremendous attention from the scientific community. It offers both a plethora of novel and exciting physical phenomena along with a revolutionary transformation of the future of optoelectronic devices and optical components based on novel physical principles. Though the studies of graphene, have mostly been accomplished with Nobel Wave, investigations of other 2D and van der Waals materials (their bulk counterparts), counting for more than a thousand candidates, yet only cover the tip of an iceberg. Furthermore, since the integration of such 2D and van der Waals materials of a different physical character into a variety of heterostructures can be achieved in enormous combinations and with atomic precision, it drastically extends both the fundamental scope and the possible applications.

Work Packages

WP1| Creation of a library of advanced functional materials based on 2D and van der Waals materials, a variety of their homo- and heterostructures by mechanical (classical scotch-tape) and electrochemical (cation intercalation) exfoliation techniques and deterministic dry and wet transfer techniques.

WP2| Studies of their optical properties (optical anisotropy, chirality, topological properties, etc…), optoelectronic properties (excitonic and plasmonic effects arisen from light-matter interaction, etc…), and twist-controlled emergent phenomena aiming to discover control-knobs for their fine-tuning. 

WP3| Investigations of the prospects of the implementation of such advanced functional materials in nanoscale optoelectronic devices and optical components.