CAREER: Light-Matter Interactions in Low-Dimensional Graphitic Materials

University Of California-Berkeley, Berkeley CA

Investigators

Abstract

*** NONTECHNICAL ABSTRACT *** This Faculty Early Career Award funds a project that will investigate novel light-matter interactions in low-dimensional graphitic materials. Such graphitic structures, including two-dimensional graphene and one-dimensional carbon nanotubes, have remarkable electrical, mechanical, and optical properties. This research project will advance our fundamental understanding of these novel carbon materials, the knowledge of which could enable new type of electronic and photonic devices. It also provides an active learning environment to train students with interdisciplinary skills. This CAREER project will take advantage of the diverse student body and education activities in UC Berkeley, including the Berkeley Edge program and the Cal-Teach platform, to enhance broad participation in science and technology. ***TECHNICAL ABSTRACT*** This Faculty Early Career Award funds a project that will investigate novel light-matter interactions in graphene and carbon nanotubes. The remarkable physical properties of these low-dimensional graphitic systems have spurred a worldwide effort in their transport studies. The proposed research will advance our understanding of their photophysics using individual nanostructure spectroscopy. The CAREER project will focus on exploring Dirac fermion physics in gated graphene bilayers, which is expected to exhibit fascinating pseudo-spin phenomena and non-trivial Berry?s phases, and on probing ultrafast dynamics and quantum coherence in individual chirality-defined carbon nanotubes. This research will shed light on a range of important dynamical behavior of graphitic materials, including electron coherence and dephasing mechanisms and energy transfer processes. Situated at the interface of nanoscience and optical physics frontiers, the proposed research provides a truly interdisciplinary learning environment for graduate students as well as undergraduate students. Such education and outreach effort will be an integral part of this research project.