RQMP Research Seminar

Three stories of defects and disorder in 2D crystals

Shawna Hollen

Department of Physics
University of New Hampshire

Two-dimensional materials now form the basis for a broad and rich field of research bristling with exciting possible applications from photonics to quantum computing and leading to discoveries of new phenomena due to the high customizability of the materials systems and interactions within them. In this talk, I will present three stories of defects and disorder in 2D crystals probed by scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy. In the first, I will show evidence of black phosphorus degradation by oxygen on an atomic scale. The second will show how cooling rates do or do not affect the formation of charge density wave domains in 1T-TaS2. In the third, I will present experiments that aim to reveal the spatial features of electronic localization in the quantum critical regime of disordered graphene. Through these stories, I will relate how defects and disorder influence the chemistry, strongly correlated phenomena, and quantum critical behavior in 2D materials.