Project QuMat.1-RUG-1.2B in Pillar 1

Heterostructure engineering of hybrid materials based on transition metal dichalcogenides

We will explore the topological electronic structure of the two-dimensional material WTe2 in the T’ crystalline phase. In collaboration with 2D materials growth company HQ Graphene, we will grow bulk T’ WTe2 crystals using chemical vapor transport and flux methods. We will start with substrate/layer X/WTe2, with X being a potential superconductor, ferromagnet or another transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) layer, to gain experience in the heterostructure fabrication, reproducibility, interfacial problems, and chemical stability. Guided by DFT and tight-binding calculations, characterization and testing, we will advance towards material combinations offering the strongest topological gap. Finally, we will combine wafer-scale ALD-grown superconductors, such as NbSe2 and NbS2, with the optimized WTe2 quantum spin Hall insulator to combine strong superconductors with a system with a maximum topological gap.