Project description
Designing electronic quantum states in solids by many-particle interactions
While the whole being more than the sum of the parts is certainly a cliché, it has in fact broad applications, and the electronic states in semiconducting solids are no exception. Strong interactions between many particles hold major promise to artificially design quantum states in condensed matter with unprecedented speed and fidelity, beyond the scope of traditional methods relying on single-electron properties. The EU-funded CoulENGINE project is out to introduce and develop a non-invasive, proximity-based approach of creating and manipulating electronic structures in nanomaterials by tailoring electrodynamic Coulomb interactions on ultrafast time-scales.
Objective
Key phenomena in condensed matter are determined by the properties of the electronic states, strongly motivating the development of strategies for their artificial design. In semiconducting solids, heavily studied from fundamental and technological perspectives, electronic structures are currently defined using strong perturbations of the materials such as tuning the chemical composition, changing the geometry, or applying external fields. Traditional concepts, however, inherently rely on modifying single-particle properties of individual electrons, while the influence of many-particle interactions has been largely neglected in the context of bandstructure engineering so far. In addition, conventional methods start to approach intrinsic barriers in todays technology, driving an intense search for fundamentally novel concepts.
Here, I propose to explore an alternative pathway to design and manipulate electronic states in matter that is exclusively based on many-particle interactions between electronic excitations mediated by Coulomb forces. These are exceptionally strong in two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors with a major impact on the energies of the electronic states, and are highly sensitive to the dielectric surroundings. Using layered heterostructures I intend to show how the dielectric environment of a 2D semiconductor can be tuned on ultrafast timescales by pulsed optical injection to manipulate electronic states via proximity screening. Similarly, external screening will be used to study how the geometry of proximate objects can be imprinted on the electronic structure of a 2D layer, creating dielectrically defined zero-, one-, and two-dimensional potentials in one unified system. Ultimately, the realization of rapidly tunable electronic quantum states through dielectric environment will offer novel, versatile experimental platforms for fundamental many-body physics research and establish a new approach for electronic structure engineering on the nanoscale.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences physical sciences electromagnetism and electronics semiconductivity
- natural sciences mathematics pure mathematics geometry
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
ERC-COG - Consolidator Grant
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2020-COG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
01069 DRESDEN
Germany
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.