Academic Research

Van der Waals heterostructures (vdWH) are emerging materials for optoelectronics and photonics. The large variety of two-dimensional materials that can be selected and combined to form these systems demands computational analysis to select suitable candidates for the target applications and to characterize their electronic and optical properties. In this project, we will explore how to tune the features of vdWH, taking advantage of the mutual orientation of the layers (twist angle) and the strain that naturally emerges upon lattice mismatch. In this study, based on density functional theory, we will consider conventional transition metal dichalcogenides (MoS2, MoSe2, WS2, and WSe2) as well as graphene and hexagonal boron nitride. This work is embedded in running collaborations with experimental partners in other German universities. Depending on the student’s interests and skills, the study can be driven toward automatized calculations aimed at exploring the configurational space or in the direction of many-body methods to access the photophysics of selected vdWH. 

Master's students 
Ph.D. students