Collaborative Research: Moire Exciton-polariton for Analog Quantum Simulation

理解和设计光与材料的相互作用在半导体技术中发挥着重要作用，在我们的日常生活中应用，从太阳能收集和发光设备到高速互联网和高性能计算。工程和增强这种光-物质相互作用对于推进新技术甚至量子信息科学与工程（QISE）的新领域至关重要。一种策略是将激子（一种光激发的电子和空穴对）耦合到纳米级腔中，形成激子-极化子（EP），这是一种继承了两者优点的半材料半光杂化体。光子的性质允许我们通过光学工程来操纵EP，而激子的性质使强相互作用成为可能。在原子级薄的半导体中，光与物质的相互作用可以进一步增强，通过将两个原子片堆叠在一起并精确控制它们的扭曲角度，形成半导体莫尔纳米超晶格。在本研究中，我们将设计一种系统的方法将纳米空腔与半导体莫尔纳米超晶格耦合，以将光与物质的相互作用提高到前所未有的水平，在这种情况下，即使只有一个光子，器件的功能也会发生巨大的变化。这种水平的强光-物质相互作用可以用来实现光子量子模拟，这是一种模拟新材料的方法，其特性源于电子之间复杂的相互作用。与国家量子计划和半导体技术计划战略一致，该提案将开发新的课程材料，以培养学生在高需求，尖端半导体，光学科学和QISE领域的职业。将为K-12和代表性不足的少数民族学生组织光学和纳米制造实践暑期讲习班。该提案的结果将传播给科学界和公众，以提高全国对QISE和半导体技术创新重要性的认识。本提案旨在开发一个量子非线性光学器件平台，以理解和设计二维（2D）材料中的光物质相互作用，用于模拟量子模拟。该项目将完成一种混合装置，将半导体莫尔<s:1>超晶格中的鲁棒激子与纳米光子谐振器耦合，形成一种被称为莫尔<s:1>激子-极化子（EP）的准粒子，一种半材料半光的混合体。由原子级薄的过渡金属二硫族化合物（TMDCs）形成的半导体moir<s:1>超晶格中的激子可以通过电子和激子平带进行定制，从而具有更强的相互作用。因此，莫尔维尔超晶格具有迷人的相关绝缘电子态，并且由于莫尔维尔势限制而改变了激子共振。超小模体积纳米光子谐振器和谐振器阵列与莫伊莫尔激子的强耦合将为研究相关激子物理和实现单光子水平非线性声子-声子相互作用提供一个独特的莫伊莫尔激子- ep平台，为模拟量子模拟等量子纳米光电子学的变革铺平道路。提出的研究也将改变目前的节能光信息处理和量子光电子学的状态。该提案将开发与拟议研究相结合的教育组件，以培养学生在半导体，光学科学和QISE领域的未来劳动力。该提案将为K-12和代表性不足的少数民族学生提供学习光学和纳米制造的机会。这项建议的结果将传播给广泛的科学听众，并与公众分享。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。

Understanding and designing how light interacts with materials play an important role in semiconductor technology, with applications in our daily lives ranging from solar energy harvesting and light-emitting devices to high-speed internet and high-performance computing. Engineering and enhancing this light-matter interaction are critical for advancing new technologies and even the new field of quantum information science and engineering (QISE). One strategy is to couple exciton, an optically excited electron and hole pair, to a nanoscale cavity and form exciton-polariton (EP), which is a half-material and half-light hybrid that inherits the advantages of both worlds. The photon nature allows us to manipulate the EP via optical engineering, and the exciton nature enables strong interaction. The light-matter interaction can be further enhanced in atomically thin semiconductors and engineered by stacking two of these atomic sheets together and precisely controlling their twist angle, forming a semiconducting moiré superlattice. In this proposal, we will design a systematic way to couple the nano-cavities with the semiconducting moiré superlattice to enhance the light-matter interaction to an unprecedented level, in which the device function can be drastically altered even by a single photon. This level of strong light-matter interaction can be utilized to implement photonic quantum simulations, a way to simulate new materials whose properties arise from complicated interactions between electrons. Strategically aligned with the National Quantum Initiative and Semiconductor Technology Initiative, this proposal will develop new course materials to train students for careers in high-demand, cutting-edge semiconductor, optical science, and QISE fields. Hands-on summer workshops on optics and nanofabrication for K-12 and under-represented minority students will be organized. The results from this proposal will be disseminated to both the scientific community and the general public to raise national awareness of the importance of QISE and semiconductor technology innovations.This proposal aims to develop a quantum nonlinear optical device platform to understand and engineer light-matter interactions in two-dimensional (2D) materials for analog quantum simulations. The project will accomplish a hybrid device that couples the robust excitons in a semiconducting moiré superlattice to nanophotonic resonators, forming a quasiparticle known as moiré exciton-polariton (EP), a half-material and half-light hybrid. The exciton in the semiconducting moiré superlattices formed by atomically thin transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) can be tailored with even stronger interaction thanks to the electronic and excitonic flatbands. Therefore, the moiré superlattice hosts fascinating correlated insulating electronic states, and the exciton resonances are modified due to the moiré potential confinement. Strong coupling of the moiré excitons with the ultra-small mode-volume nanophotonic resonators and resonator arrays will lead to a unique moiré-EP platform for studying correlated excitonic physics and realizing nonlinear phonon-phonon interactions down to the single-photon level, paving the way to transformative quantum nano-optoelectronics such as analog quantum simulations. The proposed research will also transform the current state of power-efficient optical information processing and quantum optoelectronics. This proposal will develop education components well integrated with the proposed research to train students for the future workforce in semiconductor, optical science, and QISE fields. This proposal will develop learning opportunities on optics and nanofabrication for K-12 and under-represented minority students. The results from this proposal will be disseminated to a wide scientific audience and shared with the general public.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.