Ricerc@Sapienza

In the last years, the implementation of new and efficient calculator and computer is becoming a crucial topic in different sectors (scientific or economics). The accomplishment of this task requires a lot of computational resources that consist of a massive quantity of electronic circuits like silicon transistors. 2-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) are the perfect candidate to achieve this task. In particular, they are optically efficient, multitasking, electronic integrable and economically synthesizable. Thanks to their flexibility TMDs can be also implemented in another research field, like the quantum networks. TMDs implementations were focused in the electronics field, but recently a new optical propriety, single-photon emission, was discovered and TMDs join also the sector of ¿single-photon sources¿. It has been shown that the origin of this new kind of solid-state quantum emitter is linked to the presence of strain fields, that favours exciton funnelling towards low-energy bandgap regions, where single localized excitons can be populated. Consequently, TMDs can be also developed in terms of quantum information, computation, and information sciences. In this project, we present a systematic study of the role of strain. Strain engineering is crucial in TMDs because we can control different proprieties like the energy quantum emitters¿ emission [1] or solar energy funnel achievement [2] for what concern, respectively, the single-photon emission and the electronic devices. In our devices strain can be varied and controlled dynamically via nano-machined piezoelectric actuators. A single layer of WSe2 will be deposited on a piezoelectric device on which strain fields can be controlled and modified dynamically and using confocal photoluminescence mapping and atomic force microscope measurements, we can investigate directly the strain control of our system.

[1] P. Tonndorf, et al, 2, 4, 347-352 (2015)
[2] J. Feng, Nature Photonics, 6, 866 (2012).