Defect-mediated engineering of nanomaterials for energy and quantum applications

The symposium will bring together scientists focused on the physics of defects in 2D materials to discuss recent progress and challenges in the field, including the state of the art in theory and characterization techniques. The symposium will cover, but is not limited to, the following themes:

• Defects in 2D materials for quantum technologies
• Characterization of defects in 2D materials
• Doping of 2D materials
• First-principles modeling of native defects and impurities in 2D materials
• Production of defects in 2D materials under ion-irradiation
• Electron-beam-mediated engineering of 2D materials through controllable introduction of defects

Speakers Include

• Harriet Åhlgren / University of Helsinki, Finland
• Matthias Batzill / University of South Florida, USA
• Marija Drndić / University of Pennsylvania, USA
• Ute Kaiser / University of Ulm, Germany
• Hannu-Pekka Komsa / University of Oulu, Finland
• Steven G. Louie / UC Berkeley, USA
• Thomas Michely / University of Cologne, Germany
• Joshua A. Robinson / Pennsylvania State University, USA
• Marika Schleberger / University Duisburg-Essen, Germany
• Kazu Suenaga / Osaka University, Japan
• Kristian Thygesen / Technical University of Denmark, Denmark
• Richard Wilhelm / TU Wien, Austria

Defects, which are ubiquitous in crystalline solids at finite temperatures due to the second law of thermodynamics, are also present in two-dimensional (2D) systems, an important class of materials that has recently received enormous attention. In addition, many 2D materials are synthetic, so the defect concentration in them can be well above the equilibrium value. 2D materials are essentially surface-only, so defects can easily be formed by interaction with the environment, such as oxidation. The defects have a strong influence on the electronic, optical, thermal and mechanical properties of 2D materials, normally deteriorating their characteristics, but can also be beneficial, e.g. in the context of doping or single-photon quantum emitters. The reduced dimensionality of 2D materials greatly enhances the role of defects (detrimental or beneficial), and many concepts of defect physics in bulk systems are not applicable to 2D materials or require substantial modifications.