Moire materials from one-dimensional van der Waals heterostructures

Engineering two-dimensional (2D) materials, such as graphene and transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), has an immense potential to revolutionize both the way we think about material science as well as technological applications in fields from nanoelectronics and nanophotonics to quantum communication and sensing. These materials are fully functional down to a single monolayer and can be assembled into 2D heterostructures displaying a plethora of novel emerging phenomena, such as unconventional superconductivity, tunable band structures, and exciton modulation. These phenomena and their tunability are highly sensitive to the underlying structural arrangements down to the single atom level, such as the twisting angle between adjacent layers resulting into a Moiré superlattice. Here I will develop a novel paradigm in 2D material science by realizing and exploiting Moiré physics in one-dimensional (1D) vdW heterostructures (vdWH). As compared to their 2D counterparts, the 1D configuration benefits from key advantages related to quantum confinement and curvature-induced strain translating into controllable Moiré superlattices. I will achieve the reproducible, high-yield, and site-specific fabrication of vdWH for a range of TMD materials while monitoring curvature-induced Moiré superlattices, building upon my recent results of position-controlled Mo/MoS2 core-shell nanopillar arrays. Combining my expertise in low-dimensional nanomaterial fabrication and electron microscopy, I will investigate the interplay between Moiré superlattices and optoelectronic properties in 1D vdWH, unravelling the poorly known mechanisms leading to the modulation of low-energy electronic states, plasmonic excitons, and other bosonic excitations. This opens fascinating opportunities such as deploying strained 1D vdWH as efficient room-temperature single-photon emitters. An in-house electron energy-loss spectroscopy software framework will unambiguously identify the correlation between atomic arrangement and optoelectronic properties including bandgap, dielectric function, and dispersion relations. This multidisciplinary project will also contribute to ongoing efforts towards 1D vdWH as building blocks to accelerate applications in nanophotonics, quantum sensing and communication, and tunable nanoelectronics.