Optical sensing of electronic interactions in two-dimensional semiconductors using a novel cryogenic surface force apparatus

该项目将利用位于爱丁堡的Razorbill Instruments在仪器设计和工程方面的最先进的专业知识，以及由Brian Gerardot教授领导的Heriot-Watt大学量子光子学实验室（QPL）在二维材料和光谱学方面的专业知识。该项目的第一部分将是提供主要的设计要求：（一）设计一个光学透明的探头，可以轻轻地接触一个表面;（二）设计一个机制，使平面内运动的精度埃，和（三）设计一个光学传感反馈方法，这些机制，使运动的控制和测量。工业合作伙伴Razorbill Instruments是低温精密运动方面的专家，能够为最佳设计提供建议。一旦仪器设计/构建/测试周期完成，学生将加入QPL的团队，参与利用这种新型仪器的突破性实验。一个特别令人兴奋的目标是光学探测2D半导体异质结构，即莫尔材料，因为它们是由仪器原位调谐的。由两个晶体之间的周期性或扭曲角的微小差异形成的莫尔材料产生了大量有趣的集体现象（如超导性，量子自旋液体和奇异类型的磁性），这些现象在传统材料中无法轻易研究。该学生将与QPL的博士生和博士后密切合作，制造原子级薄晶体，并在低温下进行光谱学研究。

The project will harness the state-of-the-art expertise in instrument design and engineering of Razorbill Instruments, based in Edinburgh, and the expertise in two-dimensional materials and optical spectroscopy at the Quantum Photonics Lab (QPL) at Heriot-Watt University, led by Prof. Brian Gerardot. The first part of the project will be to deliver the main design requirements: (i) Designing an optically transparent probe that can gently contact a surface; (ii) Designing a mechanism to allow in-plane motions with ~angstrom precision, and (iii) Designing an optical sensing feedback method for these mechanisms so that the motions are controlled and measured. The industrial partner, Razorbill Instruments, are experts in precision motion at cryogenic temperature and will be able to advise on optimum designs.Once the instrument design/build/test cycle is complete, the student will join the team in the QPL to take part in the ground-breaking experiments that exploit this novel instrument. A particularly exciting goal is to optically probe 2D semiconductor heterostructures known as moiré materials as they are tuned in-situ by the instrument. Moiré materials, formed by a slight difference in periodicity or twist angle between two crystals, give rise to a wealth of intriguing collective phenomena (such as superconductivity, quantum spin liquids, and exotic types of magnetism) that cannot easily be investigated in conventional materials. The student will work closely with PhD students and post-docs in the QPL to fabricate the atomically thin crystals and perform the optical spectroscopy at cryogenic temperatures.