CAREER: Atomically Manipulated Quantum Materials

非技术描述本研究通过开发使用光而不是电子的材料，解决了对更快、更有效地处理和传输信息的方法日益增长的需求。这将通过将光-物质相互作用控制到单原子水平来实现，这将导致更强大和可扩展的计算和通信设备。长期以来，这种原子精度一直是一个难以捉摸的目标，但现在有办法通过使用聚焦的高能电子束来达到这一目标。该团队将利用这些工具直接操纵固体的原子结构，并创建有用的发光中心。在这个项目中，该小组将建立一个理论和实验研究计划，以研究改变所谓二维材料（即只有一个原子厚度的材料）的原子结构所产生的新特性。PI的长期研究目标是将光与物质的相互作用控制在极小的纳米尺度上，以开发新的材料和设备来实现更快的计算和传感。这个项目的研究活动将与向当地处境不利的中学和纽约城市大学为数众多的代表性不足的少数民族提供教育联系在一起。这些教育活动将在多个教育层面揭开量子技术的神秘面纱。不同层次的代表性不足的学生将参加尖端研究机会，这将帮助他们更好地为科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）的大学和职业做好准备。该团队将与当地高中的科学教师合作，创建一个基于量子科学的项目，将年轻一代和代表性不足的群体与先进的研究联系起来。目标是增加这些学生对量子研究和STEM的参与，使他们成为未来社会的积极参与者。本研究的总体目标是建立一个理论和实验研究活动，以表征和控制前所未有的精密固态发射器，如激子和类原子系统，在原子图案二维材料中。PI结合了高分辨率透射电子显微镜，基于神经网络的先进图像分析，高分辨率成像和光谱学，以创建二维材料中活性缺陷的规则网络，并研究这些新系统中的光-物质相互作用。驱动本研究的两个目标是：(i)塑造二维半导体中的激子电位景观，以设计多功能原子尺度激子电路。通过原子操纵来设计介电功能，PI是控制激子约束、相互作用和发射的先驱方法，特别设计了原子超晶格和陷阱，这些超晶格和陷阱结合在一起，创造了增强激子传输和相干性的功能性原子电路。（ii）定制二维材料中确定性产生的结构缺陷的单光子发射。回答关于单光子发射体本质的基本问题，可能为与光子谐振器控制相互作用和集成的大规模发射体阵列产生的新量子机制开辟道路。所提出的方法有可能改变固态量子技术的格局，为量子材料的科学理解以及生产和控制它们的工具提供了一个新的水平。通过针对许多光学器件的构建模块，该项目将建立量子光子学作为一种可靠且内在强大的技术，用于计量，通信和信息处理。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Non-technical DescriptionThis research addresses the increasing demand for faster and more efficient ways to process and transfer information by developing materials that use light instead of electrons. This will be realized by controlling light-matter interactions down to the single-atom level, which will result in more powerful and scalable devices for computation and communication. Such atomic precision has long been an elusive goal, but now there are methods to reach it by using focused beams of high-energy electrons. The team will employ these tools to directly manipulate the atomic structure of solids and create useful light emitting centers. In this project, the group will establish a theoretical and experimental research program to investigate the new properties resulting from altering the atomic structure of so-called two-dimensional materials, namely materials that are only one atom thick. The PI’s long-term research goal is to control light-matter interactions down to an extremely small scale, the nanoscale, to develop new materials and devices for faster computing and sensing. The research activity of this project will be integrated with educational outreach to local, disadvantaged secondary schools and the large underrepresented minority population at the City University of New York. These educational activities will demystify and teach quantum technology at multiple educational levels. Underrepresented students at different levels will take part in cutting-edge research opportunities that will help them to better prepare for college and careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The team will collaborate with science teachers at local high schools to create a program based on quantum science that connects younger generations and underrepresented groups with advanced research. The goal is to increase these students’ participation in quantum research and STEM and equip them to become active players in the future of society.Technical Description The overarching goal of this research is to establish a theoretical and experimental research activity to characterize and control with unprecedented precision solid-state emitters, such as excitons and atom-like systems, in atomically-patterned two-dimensional materials. The PI combines high resolution transmission electron microscopy, advanced image analysis based on neural networks, high resolution imaging and spectroscopy to create regular networks of active defects in two-dimensional materials and study light-matter interactions in these new systems. Two objectives drive this research: (i) Shape the exciton potential landscape in two-dimensional semiconductors to design multifunctional atomic-scale excitonic circuits. By engineering the dielectric function through atomic manipulation, the PI is pioneering methods for controlling exciton confinement, interaction, and emission with specifically designed atomic superlattices and traps that, combined together, create functional atomic circuits for enhanced exciton transport and coherence. (ii) Tailor the single-photon emission of deterministically produced structural defects in 2D materials. Answering fundamental questions about the nature of single-photon emitters may open pathways to new quantum regimes arising from large-scale emitter arrays with controlled interaction and integration with photonic resonators. The proposed approach has the potential to change the landscape of solid-state quantum technologies, providing a new level of scientific understanding of quantum materials as well as the tools to produce and control them. By targeting the building blocks of many optical devices, this project will establish quantum photonics as a reliable and inherently powerful technology for metrology, communication, and information processing.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.