News
Our member Dr. Alexander Lau has been awarded a prestigious Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship by the European Commission for a 2-year research project to be carried out at MagTop. The title of the project is “Magnetism, Berry-curvature engineering and topology in chalcogenide superlattices and heterostructures”.
Project abstract:
This project will explore superlattices and heterostructures in chalcogenide materials as a platform for Berry-curvature engineering and topological devices. To this end, superlattices created by superimposing single- and bilayers of transition-metal dichalcogenides with periodic arrays of magnetic adatoms in various configurations will be studied. Moreover, the project will investigate multilayer heterostructures of group-II monochalcogenides with a compositional gradient across layers. The interplay of the underlying electronic structures with the ingredients and configurations of the superstructures is envisioned to lead to new phases with highly altered properties. This interplay will be studied theoretically with a focus on three main objectives: (i) designing quantum anomalous Hall phases with large Chern numbers, which is highly relevant for electronic devices with low-power consumption; (ii) realizing topological superconductors as a platform for Majorana quasiparticles, which hold potential for exotic nonlocal phenomena and quantum computers; and (iii) realizing stable intertwined order in a 3D material with flat energy bands, a research direction pioneered with this project. The investigations will provide concrete guidelines for accompanying experimental studies at MagTop. In this way, the outcomes of the project will lay the foundation for tunable topological devices based on chalcogenide superlattices and heterostructures.