Researchers at the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (EMPA) want to add targeted defects to atomic layer-thin semiconductor layers based on MoS2 and attempt to measure and control their quantum properties with picosecond temporal resolution and at the same time with atomic precision. The aim is to generate fundamental knowledge for future quantum computers.
Molybdenum disulphide can be isolated in a controlled manner as a MoS2 monolayer. Like its chemical relatives, the transition metal dichalcogenides (TMD), it is a 2D semiconductor and, when present as a monolayer, has a direct band gap.
The Empa researchers want to introduce atomic defects into TMDs in a targeted manner and characterize them with the aid of a new type of measuring instrument and investigate their suitability as so-called quantum emitters. 2D materials offer the great advantage that the relevant energy scales are much larger than in 3D materials, so that the technology can probably also be used above cryogenic environments. In addition, the defects in monolayers are located on the surface of the 2D material, making them much easier to locate and manipulate.
