Creating the Building Blocks of Quantum Materials

Quantum materials are poised to transform the development of next-generation sensors, analytical instruments, information processing systems, and energy conversion platforms. However, before realizing these lofty goals, researchers must first learn to harness the complex optical and magnetic states, non-trivial electronic correlations, and topological effects such materials support. Eliciting and controlling these desired properties will require low-dimensional crystals whose size, shape, structure, and composition can be tailored to atomic levels of precision. Chemistry will play a vital role in rational synthesis of these crystalline building blocks of quantum hardware. In this vein, my group has focused on tailoring two-dimensional (2D) crystals to uncover and harness quantum phenomena. Through our work spanning the preparation of 2D atomic lattices and 2D molecular frameworks we have found that even subtle changes in the dimensionality and morphology of these materials yields substantial property changes. Notably, we can manipulate precisely the dimensionality of 2D transition-metal dichalcogenide crystals by growing these materials on chemically functionalized surfaces. The resulting nanoribbons emit light whose energy and profile show an unexpected progression as a function of crystal size. Seeking to expand the 2D materials landscape beyond atomic lattices, we have also prepared and examined new 2D molecular frameworks. A reversible 1D-to-2D phase switching can be induced in these frameworks with concomitant and substantial change in electronic transport. Our efforts underscore the importance of rational synthesis in building low-dimensional materials that enable new discoveries and advance the fields of optics, electronics, energy conversion, and quantum sensing.