Project description
Strong light-matter interactions in 2D materials with ultrafast optical techniques
Owing to their extraordinary properties, monolayers of transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) are deemed ideal materials for various optoelectronic devices, and can be stacked to form heterostructures showing even richer properties. Moreover, charge carriers in TMDs exhibit a valley degree of freedom, behaving like pseudospin. TMDs strongly interacting with light in microcavities could produce further striking phenomena such as lasing at low power thresholds and quantum macro-states known as Bose-Einstein condensates. The EU-funded ENOSIS project will combine advanced optical techniques, including ultrafast spectroscopy and hyperspectral microscopy, to investigate the dynamics of strong light-matter coupling in microcavities embedding TMDs monolayers and their heterostructures, towards the creation of novel non-linear and quantum photonic devices.
Objective
Strong coupling (SC) between light and matter in microcavities has shown to produce striking phenomena such as lasing at low power thresholds, Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) and superfluidity in the solid state. Embedding transitional metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) monolayers and their heterostructures (HSs) with valley pseudo-spin degree of freedom in microcavities could bring enormous advantages. ENOSIS will enable and enhance the most favourable properties of SC in TMD-based devices, by investigating novel structures with advanced optical techniques relying on ultrafast spectroscopy and hyperspectral microscopy. To this aim, microcavities embedding TMD monolayers and HSs will be fabricated and characterized by developing new microscopy tools, which can provide fast and comprehensive information about the morphological and spectral properties of the samples. Ultrafast spectroscopic techniques will then reveal the subtle mechanisms behind the valley polarization enhancement in TMDs in the SC regime, towards a further increase of valley coherence time. Strong non-linear phenomena could then be observed in these structures for the first time, eventually resulting in BEC at high temperatures. ENOSIS will equip the Researcher with new knowledge and skills in ultrafast optical science and technology, thus broadening his scientific background and enhancing his prospects as an independent researcher. At the same time, the Action and the Host Institution will benefit from the advanced knowledge in 2D materials and strong light-matter interactions acquired by the Researcher during his scientific career. ENOSIS promises to open new horizons for 2D materials in optoelectronics, by enhancing their properties through strong light-matter interactions, creating novel highly non-linear optical devices which could become the building blocks for future optical circuits and computers.
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Funding Scheme
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)Coordinator
20133 Milano
Italy