Two-dimensional materials: a Platform for Fundamental OptoElectroMechanics (2D-POEM) – 2D-POEM

Two-dimensional materials (2DM, e.g. graphene and transition metal dichalcogenides) are the building blocks of a vast family of layered crystals. 2DM possess complementary properties and compose a unique palette to explore frontier low-dimensional physics. Isolated or stacked in the form of van der Waals heterostructures (vdWH), 2DM are promising candidates for optoelectronic and optomechanical devices. The operation of such devices would benefit from unusually strong light-matter interactions in 2DM. Hence, new concepts may be needed, when it comes to describing near-field couplings in vdWH and emerging optoelectromechanical phenomena.

Are conventional descriptions of interlayer energy and charge transfer (IET, ICT) still valid in the case of atomically-thin 2D heterointerfaces? Can one engineer or electrically control IET and ICT to better understand exciton photophysics in 2DM and design novel optoelectronic devices? How can optical spectroscopy be employed to probe and actively control nanoresonators based on 2DM and vdWH? What are the fundamental links between macroscopic flexural motion, dissipation, and elementary quantum excitations such as optical phonons and excitons in a 2D nanoresonator? What kind of new optoelectronic and optoelectromechanical couplings can be achieved using single photon emitters embedded in 2DM?

The 2D-POEM project aims at addressing these technologically-relevant questions with a deliberately fundamental approach. Highly sensitive micro-optical spectroscopies (time-resolved photoluminescence and Raman scattering) and electrical probes will be combined to provide a comprehensive understanding of interlayer interactions and optomechanical coupling in 2DM. The discovered properties will be harnessed for innovative quantum-optoelectronic applications. The project culminates with the implementation of optical spectroscopy in 2D electromechanical resonators, giving way to a concerted effort towards hybrid optoelectromechanics in 2DM.