3:45–4:45 pm
GCIS W301/303 929 E. 57th St
Probing the Microscopic Nature of Interacting Electrons
The collective behaviors of a vast number (~10^23) of electrons can be challenging to predict due to their interactions. The study of the interaction-driven emergent quantum phenomena has become one of the focus areas in modern condensed matter physics. Despite extensive mesoscopic investigations, many aspects of their microscopic nature remain elusive due to a lack of effective experimental probes. In this talk, I will discuss our efforts to resolve interacting electrons at the microscopic level by combining novel probes and 2D quantum devices. A few examples will be presented. In moiré superlattices, an emerging quantum simulator, we have imaged 2D electron crystals for the first time using a new sensor-assisted scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) technique. Within individual moiré sites, multi-electron artificial atoms are observed to exhibit Wigner molecules. In the stacking domain walls of atomic bilayers, we observed the evolution of a 1D electron crystal into weakly interacting Luttinger liquid, with the emergence of a dimerized crystal in the intermediate region. I will also discuss further opportunities for exploring interacting electrons across multiple degrees of freedom.
Speaker: Dr. Hongyuan Li, Laboratory of Atomic and Solid State Physics, Cornell University
Host: Prof. Philippe Guyot-Sionnest, Dept. of Physics (pgs@uchicago.edu)