Yong P Chen, Purdue University
Monday, February 2, 2015 - 4:00pm to 5:00pm
PAA A-102
In just a few years, graphene has become one of the most actively studied subjects in condensed matter physics and nanotechnology, owing to a host of appealing properties and potential applications. It is now appreciated that graphene is just one member of a much larger family of 2D atomic layered crystals, which also includes many semimetals, semiconductors and (conventional) insulators, topological insulators, as well as conventional & unconventional (high-Tc) superconductors. This rapidly emerging new field of 2D materials promises even richer physics and applications beyond those of graphene. Furthermore, these van der Waals coupled 2D materials can be used as “building blocks” to form almost infinite possibilities of novel artificial materials and structures that cannot be found naturally nor grown by traditional methods. In this talk, I will describe several experimental examples from our exploration of various 2D materials and their heterostructures. I will discuss the opportunities such materials, structures and devices made from them may bring for both condensed matter physics (from quantum Hall effects to superconductivity and other novel states of quantum matter) and technological applications (such as energy conversion, spintronics, and quantum computing).