Photo of Jesus Perez

Jesus Perez

QF Intern Summer 2021
Office:
Ventura College, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo

Major: Mechanical Engineering
Mentors: Dr. Shaimaa Azzam, Professor Galan Moody

Effects of Placing Two-Dimensional Materials on Engineered Substrates

Two-dimensional (2D) materials are studied for their enhanced light-emitting properties and their ability to host single-photon emitters (SPEs). SPEs are transitions that emit only a single photon of light when excited. Generally, the SPEs appear at seemingly random locations of the 2D material such as near edges, wrinkles, or cracks. Since SPEs tend to occur in strained regions of the 2D material, the location of these emitters can be engineered using nanopillars that induce controllable strain. At Galan Moody’s Quantum Photonics Lab at UC Santa Barbara, Jesus Perez and Shaimaa Azzam are researching how different nanopillar geometries affect the strain on the 2D materials. Using the COMSOL Multiphysics software, we are able to simulate the strain on the 2D material caused by the nanopillars. Based on the simulations, we found that as the radius of the nanopillars increased, the less strain the 2D material experienced. Furthermore, as the thickness of the 2D material increased, the less strain the 2D material experienced. With this information, we will be able to determine the best nanopillar geometry in order to enhance the strain and therefore create better SPEs.