Two-dimensional atomic crystals as building blocks of new heterostructures.

Nanotechnology is an emerging multidisciplinary field that is revolutionizing materials science and optoelectronics. Since the future of this new technology will be shaped by the accessible materials, searching for new materials with novel functionalities will be crucial. The present proposal aims to make significant contributions to the engineering of heterostructures composed of atomically-thin crystal structures. Currently, the research on atomic-scale heterostructures is in its earliest stage and the number of available materials is rather limited. The stability and electronic properties of novel atomically-thin crystal structures will be investigated using state-of-the-art computational techniques. Density Functional Theory, will be used by the applicant, which is a quite powerful tool used in condensed matter physics, chemistry and biophysics to investigate the electronic and magnetic properties of many-body systems. In the second part, monolayer crystal structures that have desired properties will be used as building blocks of nanoscale heterostructures. The possibility of using such heterostructures in various optoelectronic devices such as Schottky diodes, PN junctions and spin-valves will be examined.

Keywords:HETEROSTRUCTURES

Disciplines:Condensed matter physics and nanophysics