Exploring materials for next-gen devices

powered by curioisty

We are a group of condensed matter physicists driven by the necessity for energy-efficient and sustainable electronics. Motivated by the challenge of moving beyond current computing limits, we grow and study novel materials that will pave- way for a future with devices beyond silicon.

Ultra-thin kagome materials

Topological insulator heterostructures

Step into the realm of atoms with Echidna- the scanning-tunelling microscope (STM) that's made diving into the world of electrons possible! (Slide 1) A STM relies on the quantum mechanical tunnelling of electrons between a sharp conducting tip and a flat conducting sample. By applying a bias voltage (Vb) between tip and sample, a current will flow, and this current can be measured as a function of (x, y) location (Slide 4). By varying the bias voltage the occupied and unoccupied states can be probed with sub-nanometer precision allowing individual atoms to be resolved.

The Toroidal analyser (Slide 1) sits at the soft-xray SXR endstation of the Australian Synchrotron, right across the Monash Campus in Clayton, Melbourne. ARPES utilises the photoelectric effect, where light incident on a sample with sufficient energy causes electrons to be emitted (Slide 2) from the material at different angles and Kinetic energies. This technique is ideal for directly determining the electronic band structure of novel 2D materials. ARPES experiments take place in ultra-high vacuum environment in order to minimise contamination of the sample surface.