Probing electronic, mechanical and opto-electronic properties of nanostructures

ABSTRACT: 

Department of Condensed Matter Physics and Materials Science, TIFR, Mumbai, India Physics at the nanometer scale offers opportunities for exploring physics with a variety of flavours that is often difficult to realize in macroscopic systems. I will discuss three themes we pursue in our lab with the common thread being the use of electronic devices to explore electronics, mechanics and opto-electronic properties.

Controlled modification of graphene’s electronic properties is of interest and superlattices offer such an opportunity. Superlattice in graphene generates extra Dirac points in the band structure and their number depends on the superlattice potential strength. (Nano Letters, 13, pp 3990 (2013)). 

Elastic properties and strain state of materials provide an avenue to study phase transitions. The resonant frequency of a doubly clamped beam, much like a guitar string, allows measurements of the elastic properties as function of temperature, across a charge density wave transition, along with other parameters. (Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 166403 (2013)).

Time permitting, I will finish with the recent work that we are pursuing to study optoelectronic properties of devices to explore their potential as detectors and photovoltaic devices.