Project description
Visualising Weyl fermions and strain-tuneable quantum phases in tungsten ditelluride
As conventional silicon electronics approach their physical limits and AI imposes increasing energy demands, exploiting quantum phenomena in novel materials could be a way to overcome these constraints. Tungsten ditelluride (WTe2) is a candidate, predicted to host exotic quasiparticles capable of anisotropic high-mobility transport. With the support of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the WAVE project will attempt to detect and characterise these quasiparticles leveraging its novel fast detection method, a pioneering 2D platform and low-temperature scanning tunnelling microscopy. Monolayers up to a few layers of WTe2 will be suspended on nanoporous membranes, eliminating substrate-induced strain and potentially revealing how tip-induced strain changes lead to topological edge states and excitonic insulator phases.
Objective
As electronics shrink to atomic scales, silicon-based devices are now approaching fundamental physical and technological limits. At the same time, rapidly growing computing demands, especially in artificial intelligence, drive a steep rise in global energy consumption, conflicting with urgent sustainability goals. Breakthroughs in materials science are needed to enable scalable, low-power devices that exploit quantum phenomena for energy-efficient information processing and transfer.
This project, WAVE (WTe2: Advanced Visualization of Electronic Band Structure), addresses this challenge by studying tungsten ditelluride (WTe2). This layered transition metal dichalcogenide, is predicted to host type-II Weyl fermions, elusive quasiparticles with tilted band crossings that enable anisotropic, high-mobility transport. Experimental verification of these quasiparticles has been challenging due to their energy lying above the Fermi level and the limited momentum resolution of conventional techniques. The host group recently developed a faster quasiparticle interference QPI method with significantly improved reciprocal-space resolution, enabling timely detection of elusive quasiparticles.
Additionally, a robust 2D-platform for few-to-monolayer WTe2 suspended on nanoporous membranes is developed, eliminating substrate-induced strain and screening effects. This will allow to systematically study how tunable, tip-induced strain affects topological edge states and excitonic insulator phases in suspended WTe2, linking strain to emergent quantum phenomena. To achieve these goals, WAVE integrates advanced nanofabrication at ETH Zurich, low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), and newly developed fast-QPI imaging at UZH.
WAVE will provide unprecedented insights into quantum phases in low-dimensional materials, paving the way for future strain-engineered, energy-efficient electronic devices and directly contributing to the EU’s strategic green and digital transitions.
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 computer and information sciences artificial intelligence
- natural sciences physical sciences condensed matter physics quasiparticles
- natural sciences physical sciences theoretical physics particle physics fermions
- natural sciences physical sciences optics microscopy scanning tunneling microscopy
- natural sciences computer and information sciences data science data processing
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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)
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Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
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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.
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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.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
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(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2025-PF
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8006 Zurich
Switzerland
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