Resembling a tiny deck of cards, van der Waals materials consist of atomic-scale layers stacked together. Amazingly, it is possible to peel off individual layers just one atom thick that are strong, flexible, slippery, and atomically smooth. Electrons confined with these two-dimensional layers show fascinating and potentially useful quantum behaviors. My lab explores the intersection of the unique mechanical and quantum properties of two-dimensional van der Waals materials. Our approaches are often inspired by children’s arts and crafts techniques: stacking, stamping, and molding. I will present our recent experiments showing how van der Waals materials can form nanoscale vacuum cells for growing crystals or trapping atomic vapors. I will also discuss how two-dimensional electrons can be used to generate extremely high-frequency sound waves in the terahertz regime.
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“Exceptional electronic transport and quantum oscillations in thin bismuth crystals grown inside van der Waals materials” Chen & Wu et. al. Nature Materials 2024
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“Electrically-driven amplification of terahertz acoustic waves in graphene” Barajas-Aguilar et. al. Nature Communications (2024)