arXiv subjects

Stefan Strauf

Publications and source records attributed to Stefan Strauf.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Roadmap: 2D Materials for Quantum Technologies

Two-dimensional (2D) materials have emerged as a versatile and powerful platform for quantum technologies, offering atomic-scale control, strong quantum confinement, and seamless integration into heterogeneous device architectures. Their reduced dimensionality enables unique quantum phenomena, including optically addressable spin defects, tunable single-photon emitters, low-dimensional magnetism, gate-controlled superconductivity, and correlated states in Moiré superlattices. This Roadmap provides a comprehensive overview of recent progress and future directions in exploiting 2D materials for quantum sensing, computation, communication, and simulation. We survey advances spanning spin defects and quantum sensing, quantum emitters and nonlinear photonics, computational theory and data-driven discovery of quantum defects, spintronic and magnonic devices, cavity-engineered quantum materials, superconducting and hybrid quantum circuits, quantum dots, Moiré quantum simulators, and quantum communication platforms. Across these themes, we identify common challenges in defect control, coherence preservation, interfacial engineering, and scalable integration, alongside emerging opportunities driven by machine$-$learning$-$assisted design and integrated experiment$-$theory feedback loops. By connecting microscopic quantum states to mesoscopic excitations and macroscopic device architectures, this Roadmap outlines a materials-centric framework for integrating coherent quantum functionalities and positions 2D materials as foundational building blocks for next-generation quantum technologies.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2024

Magnetic Switching in Monolayer 2D Diluted Magnetic Semiconductors via Spin-to- Spin Conversion

The integration of two-dimensional (2D) van der Waals (vdW) magnets with topological insulators or heavy metals holds great potential for realizing next-generation spintronic memory devices. However, achieving high-efficiency SOT switching of monolayer vdW magnets at room temperature poses a significant challenge, particularly without an external magnetic field. Here, we show field-free, deterministic, and nonvolatile SOT switching of perpendicular magnetization in the monolayer, diluted magnetic semiconductor (DMS), Fe-doped MoS2(Fe:MoS2) at up to 380 K with a current density of $7\times10^4 A cm^{-2}$. The in situ doping of Fe into monolayer MoS2 via chemical vapor deposition and the geometry-induced strain in the crystal break the rotational switching symmetry in Fe:MoS2, promoting field-free SOT switching by generating out-of-plane spins via spin-to-spin conversion. An apparent anomalous Hall effect (AHE) loop shift at a zero in-plane magnetic field verifies the existence of z spins in Fe:MoS2, inducing an antidamping-like torque that facilitates field-free SOT switching. A strong topological Hall effect (THE) was also observed, attributed to the interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI), reducing the energy barrier for SOT switching. This field-free SOT application using a 2D ferromagnetic monolayer provides a new pathway for developing highly power-efficient spintronic memory devices.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2023

Quantum transport in a multi-path graphene Aharonov-Bohm inteferometer

We investigate the quantum transport dynamics of electrons in a multi-path Aharonov-Bohm interferometer comprising several parallel graphene nanoribbons. At low magnetic field strengths, the conductance displays a complex oscillatory behavior stemming from the interference of electron wave functions from different paths, reminiscent of the diffraction grating in optics. With increasing magnetic field strength, certain nanoribbons experience transport blockade, leading to conventional Aharonov-Bohm oscillations arising from two-path interference. We also discuss the impact of edge effects and the influence of finite temperature. Our findings offer valuable insights for experimental investigations of quantum transport in multi-path devices and their potential application for interferometry and quantum sensing.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2021

Coupling Spin Defects in a Layered Material to Nanoscale Plasmonic Cavities

Spin defects in hexagonal boron nitride, and specifically the negatively charged boron vacancy (VB) centres, are emerging candidates for quantum sensing. However, the VB defects suffer from low quantum efficiency and as a result exhibit weak photoluminescence. In this work, we demonstrate a scalable approach to dramatically enhance the VB- emission by coupling to a plasmonic gap cavity. The plasmonic cavity is composed of a flat gold surface and a silver cube, with few-layer hBN flakes positioned in between. Employing these plasmonic cavities, we extracted two orders of magnitude in photoluminescence enhancement associated with a corresponding 2 fold enhancement in optically detected magnetic resonance contrast. The work will be pivotal to progress in quantum sensing employing 2D materials, and realisation of nanophotonic devices with spin defects in hexagonal boron nitride.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2019

Single photon emission in $WSe_2$ up 160 K by quantum yield control

Two dimensional semiconductors hosting strain-induced quantum emitters offer unique abilities to achieve scalable architectures for deterministic coupling to nanocavities and waveguides that are required to enable chip-based quantum information processing technologies. A severe drawback remains that exciton emission from quantum emitters in $WSe_2$ quenches beyond 30 K, which requires cryogenic cooling. Here we demonstrate an approach to increase the temperature survival of exciton quantum emitters in $WSe_2$ that is based on maximizing the emitter quantum yield. Utilizing optimized material growth that leads to reduced density of nonradiative defects as well as coupling of the exciton emission to plasmonic nanocavities modes, we achieve average quantum yields up to 44%, thermal activation energies up to 92 meV, and single photon emission signatures up to temperatures of 160 K. At these values non-cryogenic cooling with thermo-electric chips becomes already feasible, while quantitative analysis shows that room temperature operation is within reach through active strain engineering.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2018

Deterministic coupling of site-controlled quantum emitters in monolayer semiconductors to plasmonic nanocavities

Solid-state single-quantum emitters are a crucial resource for on-chip photonic quantum technologies and require efficient cavity-emitter coupling to realize quantum networks beyond the single-node level. Previous approaches to enhance light-matter interactions rely on forming nanocavities around randomly located quantum dots or color centers but lack spatial control of the quantum emitter itself that is required for scaling. Here we demonstrate a deterministic approach to achieve Purcell-enhancement at lithographically defined locations using the sharp corner of a metal nanocube for both electric field enhancement and to deform a two-dimensional material. For a 3 by 4 array of strain-induced exciton quantum emitters formed into monolayer WSe2 we show spontaneous emission rate enhancement with Purcell-factors (FP) up to FP=1050 (average FP=272), single-photon purification, and cavity-enhanced quantum yields increasing from initially 1 % to 15 %. The utility of our nanoplasmonic platform is applicable to other 2D material, including boron nitride, opening new inroads in quantum photonics.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2017

Trion Species-Resolved Quantum Beats in MoSe2

Monolayer photonic materials offer a tremendous potential for on-chip optoelectronic devices. Their realization requires knowledge of optical coherence properties of excitons and trions that have so far been limited to nonlinear optical experiments carried out with strongly inhomogenously broadened material. Here we employ h-BN encapsulated and electrically gated MoSe2 to reveal coherence properties of trion-species directly in the linear optical response. Autocorrelation measurements reveal long dephasing times up to T2=1.16+-0.05 ps for positively charged excitons. Gate dependent measurements provide evidence that the positively-charged trion forms via spatially localized hole states making this trion less prone to dephasing in the presence of elevated hole carrier concentrations. Quantum beat signatures demonstrate coherent coupling between excitons and trions that have a dephasing time up to 0.6 ps, a two-fold increase over those in previous reports. A key merit of the prolonged exciton/trion coherences is that they were achieved in a linear optical experiment, and thus are directly relevant to applications in nanolasers, coherent control, and on-chip quantum information processing requiring long photon coherence.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2017

Near-unity quantum yield from carbon nanotube excitons coupled to plasmonic nanocavities

Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) are promising absorbers and emitters to enable novel photonic and optoelectronic applications but are also known to severely suffer from low optical quantum yields. Here we demonstrate SWCNTs excitons coupled to plasmonic nanocavities reaching deeply into the Purcell regime with FP=234 (average FP=76), near unity quantum yields of 70% (average 41%), and a photon emission rate of 1.7 MHz into the first lens. The measured ultra-narrow exciton linewidth (18 micro eV) implies furthermore generation of indistinguishable single photons from a SWCNT. To demonstrate utility beyond quantum light sources we show that nanocavity-coupled SWCNTs perform as single-molecule thermometers detecting plasmonically induced heat (Delta T=150K) in a unique interplay of excitons, phonons, and plasmons at the nanoscale.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2017

Approaching the Intrinsic Photoluminescence Linewidth in Transition Metal Dichalcogenide Monolayers

Excitonic states in monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) have been the subject of extensive recent interest. Their intrinsic properties can, however, be obscured due to the influence of inhomogeneity in the external environment. Here we report methods for fabricating high quality TMDC monolayers with narrow photoluminescence (PL) linewidth approaching the intrinsic limit. We find that encapsulation in hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) sharply reduces the PL linewidth, and that passivation of the oxide substrate by an alkyl monolayer further decreases the linewidth and also minimizes the charged exciton (trion) peak. The combination of these sample preparation methods results in much reduced spatial variation in the PL emission, with a full-width-at-half-maximum as low as 1.7 meV. Analysis of the PL line shape yields a homogeneous width of 1.43$\pm$0.08 meV and inhomogeneous broadening of 1.1$\pm$0.3 meV.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2016

Nanobubble induced formation of quantum emitters in monolayer semiconductors

The recent discovery of exciton quantum emitters in transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) has triggered renewed interest of localized excitons in low-dimensional systems. Open questions remain about the microscopic origin previously attributed to dopants and/or defects as well as strain potentials. Here we show that the quantum emitters can be deliberately induced by nanobubble formation in WSe2 and BN/WSe2 heterostructures. Correlations of atomic-force microscope and hyperspectral photoluminescence images reveal that the origin of quantum emitters and trion disorder is extrinsic and related to 10 nm tall nanobubbles and 70 nm tall wrinkles, respectively. We further demonstrate that hot stamping results in the absence of 0D quantum emitters and trion disorder. The demonstrated technique is useful for advances in nanolasers and deterministic formation of cavity-QED systems in monolayer materials.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2013

Prolonged spontaneous emission and dephasing of localized excitons in air-bridged carbon nanotubes

The bright exciton emission of semiconducting carbon nanotubes is appealing for optoelectronic and quantum photonic devices as well as fundamental studies of light-matter interaction in one-dimensional nanostructures. The photophysics of excitons in carbon nanotubes till date is however largely affected by extrinsic effects of the dielectric environment. Here we carried out time-resolved photoluminescence measurements over 14 orders of magnitude for ultra-clean carbon nanotubes bridging an airgap over pillar posts. Our measurements demonstrate a new regime of intrinsic exciton photophysics with prolonged spontaneous emission times up to T1=18 ns, between one to two orders of magnitude better than prior measurements and in agreement with values first hypothesized by theorists about a decade ago. Further we establish for the first time the exciton decoherence times of individual nanotubes in the time-domain and found four-fold prolonged values up to T2=2.1 ps compared to ensemble measurements. These first observations motivate new discussions about the magnitude of the intrinsic dephasing mechanism while the prolonged exciton dynamics is promising for device applications.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2013

Feedback and harmonic locking of slot-type optomechanical oscillators to external low-noise reference clocks

We demonstrate feedback and harmonic locking of chip-scale slot-type optomechanical oscillators to external low-noise reference clocks, with suppressed timing jitter by three orders of magnitude. The feedback and compensation techniques significantly reduce the close-to-carrier phase noise, especially within the locking bandwidth for the integral root-mean-square timing jitter. Harmonic locking via high-order carrier signals is also demonstrated with similar phase noise and integrated root-mean-square timing jitter reduction. The chip-scale optomechanical oscillators are tunable over an 80-kHz range by tracking the reference clock, with potential applications in tunable radio-frequency photonics platforms.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2012

Quantum Transport in Graphene Nanoribbons with Realistic Edges

Due to their unique electrical properties, graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) show great promise as the building blocks of novel electronic devices. However, these properties are strongly dependent on the geometry of the edges of the graphene devices. Thus far only zigzag and armchair edges have been extensively studied. However, several other self passivating edge reconstructions are possible, and were experimentally observed. Here we utilize the Nonequilibrium Green's Function (NEGF) technique in conjunction with tight binding methods to model quantum transport through armchair, zigzag, and several other self-passivated edge reconstructions. In addition we consider the experimentally relevant cases of mixed edges, where random combinations of possible terminations exist on a given GNR boundary. We find that transport through GNR's with self-passivating edge reconstructions is governed by the sublattice structure of the edges, in a manner similar to their parent zigzag or armchair configurations. Furthermore, we find that the reconstructed armchair GNR's have a larger band gap energy than pristine armchair edges and are more robust against edge disorder. These results offer novel insights into the transport in GNRs with realistic edges and are thus of paramount importance in the development of GNR based devices.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2011

Localized States and Resultant Band Bending in Graphene Antidot Superlattices

We fabricated dye sensitized graphene antidot superlattices with the purpose of elucidating the role of the localized edge state density. The fluorescence from deposited dye molecules was found to strongly quench as a function of increasing antidot filling fraction, whereas it was enhanced in unpatterned but electrically back-gated samples. This contrasting behavior is strongly indicative of a built-in lateral electric field that accounts for fluorescence quenching as well as p-type doping. These findings are of great interest for light-harvesting applications that require field separation of electron-hole pairs.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2011

Quantum Inductance and High Frequency Oscillators in Graphene Nanoribbons

Here we investigate high frequency AC transport through narrow graphene nanoribbons with topgate potentials that form a localized quantum dot. We show that as a consequence of the finite dwell time of an electron inside the quantum dot (QD), the QD behaves like a classical inductor at sufficiently high frequencies ω\gtrsim50 GHz. When the geometric capacitance of the topgate and the quantum capacitance of the nanoribbon are accounted for, the admittance of the device behaves like a classical serial RLC circuit with resonant frequencies ω\sim100-900 GHz and Q-factors greater than 10^{6}. These results indicate that graphene nanoribbons can serve as all-electronic ultra-high frequency oscillators and filters thereby extending the reach of high frequency electronics into new domains.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2010

Aperiodic conductivity oscillations in quasi-ballistic graphene heterojunctions

We observe conductivity oscillations with aperiodic spacing to only one side of the tunneling current in a dual-gated graphene field effect transistor with an n-p-n type potential barrier. The spacing and width of these oscillatoins were found to be inconsistent with pure Farbry-Perot-type interferences, but are in quantitative agreement with theoretical predictions that attribute them to resonant tunneling through quasi-bound impurity states. This observation may be understood as another signature of Klein tunneling in graphene heterojunctions and is of importance for future development and modeling of graphene based nanoelectronic devices.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2010

Transconductance and Coulomb blockade properties of in-plane grown carbon nanotube field effect transistors

Single electron transistors (SETs) made from single wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) are promising for quantum electronic devices operating with ultra-low power consumption and allow fundamental studies of electron transport. We report on SETs made by registered in-plane growth utilizing tailored nanoscale catalyst patterns and chemical vapor deposition. Metallic SWCNTs have been removed by an electrical burn-in technique and the common gate hysteresis was removed using PMMA and baking, leading to field effect transistors with large on/off ratios up to 10^5. Further segmentation into 200 nm short semiconducting SWCNT devices created quantum dots which display conductance oscillations in the Coulomb blockade regime. The demonstrated utilization of registered in-plane growth opens possibilities to create novel SET device geometries which are more complex, i.e. laterally ordered and scalable, as required for advanced quantum electronic devices.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2010

Determination of Edge Purity in Bilayer Graphene Using micro-Raman Spectroscopy

Polarization resolved micro-Raman spectroscopy was carried out at the edges of bilayer graphene. We find strong dependence of the intensity of the G band on the incident laser polarization, with its intensity dependence being 90 degrees out of phase for the armchair and zigzag case, in accordance with theoretical predictions. For the case of mixed-state edges we demonstrate that the polarization contrast reflects the fractional composition of armchair and zigzag edges, providing a monitor of edge purity, which is an important parameter for the development of efficient nanoelectronic devices.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗