Hope Bretscher
@hope-ful.bsky.social
November 17, 2025 at 12:49 PM
/13 @mpsdhamburg.bsky.social and @columbiauniversity.bsky.social were involved, and I'm grateful for funding from @humboldtinkforge.bsky.social and @erc.europa.eu #MSCA funding!
sky.social
October 20, 2025 at 9:41 AM
/13 @mpsdhamburg.bsky.social and @columbiauniversity.bsky.social were involved, and I'm grateful for funding from @humboldtinkforge.bsky.social and @erc.europa.eu #MSCA funding!
/12 Yunfei Huang, Kenji Watanabe, Takashi Taniguchi, Angel Rubio, Dante Kennes, Michael Sentef, Emmanuel Baudin, Guido Meier, Marios Michael, and James McIver.
October 20, 2025 at 9:41 AM
/12 Yunfei Huang, Kenji Watanabe, Takashi Taniguchi, Angel Rubio, Dante Kennes, Michael Sentef, Emmanuel Baudin, Guido Meier, Marios Michael, and James McIver.
/11 This project is the culmination of a collaboration with many wonderful people: Benedikt Schulte, Dorothee Herrmann, Kateryna Kusyak, Matthew Day, Sivasruthi Kesavan, Toru Matsuyama, Xinyu Li, Sara Maria Langner, Jesse Hagelstein, Felix Sturm, Alexander Potts, Christian Eckhardt
October 20, 2025 at 9:41 AM
/11 This project is the culmination of a collaboration with many wonderful people: Benedikt Schulte, Dorothee Herrmann, Kateryna Kusyak, Matthew Day, Sivasruthi Kesavan, Toru Matsuyama, Xinyu Li, Sara Maria Langner, Jesse Hagelstein, Felix Sturm, Alexander Potts, Christian Eckhardt
/10 These findings open many avenues. In addition to a THz spectroscopy tool, we’ve developed a route to control quantum phases via cavity design. Stay tuned for future results : ) and if you have ideas/questions, please reach out!
October 20, 2025 at 9:41 AM
/10 These findings open many avenues. In addition to a THz spectroscopy tool, we’ve developed a route to control quantum phases via cavity design. Stay tuned for future results : ) and if you have ideas/questions, please reach out!
/9 In multilayer heterostructures (common in devices with electrostatic gates) each layer acts as a cavity that can hybridize with the others. We demonstrated that this interaction can enter the ultrastrong coupling regime,
October 20, 2025 at 9:41 AM
/9 In multilayer heterostructures (common in devices with electrostatic gates) each layer acts as a cavity that can hybridize with the others. We demonstrated that this interaction can enter the ultrastrong coupling regime,
/8 meaning electrons and THz light hybridize and bounce back and forth between sample edges. Much like the note of a violin, the cavity mode is set by material properties (carrier density, effective mass) and device dimensions.
October 20, 2025 at 9:41 AM
/8 meaning electrons and THz light hybridize and bounce back and forth between sample edges. Much like the note of a violin, the cavity mode is set by material properties (carrier density, effective mass) and device dimensions.
/8 Initial tests on thin graphite flakes yielded surprising results: instead of broadband absorption typical of semimetals, graphite absorbed at distinct frequencies. We found that vdW heterostructures are so small relative to THz light that the samples act as “self cavities”,
October 20, 2025 at 9:41 AM
/8 Initial tests on thin graphite flakes yielded surprising results: instead of broadband absorption typical of semimetals, graphite absorbed at distinct frequencies. We found that vdW heterostructures are so small relative to THz light that the samples act as “self cavities”,
/7 To overcome this mismatch, we developed an on chip approach combining photoconductive switches (to generate/detect THz pulses) with lithographically patterned transmission lines (that confine THz fields to the length scale of devices).
October 20, 2025 at 9:41 AM
/7 To overcome this mismatch, we developed an on chip approach combining photoconductive switches (to generate/detect THz pulses) with lithographically patterned transmission lines (that confine THz fields to the length scale of devices).
/6 of collective behavior, like collective modes, quasiparticle spectra, and energy gaps, to illuminate the mechanisms behind such phenomena.
However, THz wavelengths are ~millimeters, whereas vdW devices are ~10 µm: traditional THz spectrometers cannot easily access their optical response.
However, THz wavelengths are ~millimeters, whereas vdW devices are ~10 µm: traditional THz spectrometers cannot easily access their optical response.
October 20, 2025 at 9:41 AM
/6 of collective behavior, like collective modes, quasiparticle spectra, and energy gaps, to illuminate the mechanisms behind such phenomena.
However, THz wavelengths are ~millimeters, whereas vdW devices are ~10 µm: traditional THz spectrometers cannot easily access their optical response.
However, THz wavelengths are ~millimeters, whereas vdW devices are ~10 µm: traditional THz spectrometers cannot easily access their optical response.
/5 The breadth and complexity of collective phases in highly tunable materials is exciting for both fundamental understanding and potential applications, yet many questions remain about when and why these phases occur. We set out to use THz light to resonantly measure fingerprints...
October 20, 2025 at 9:41 AM
/5 The breadth and complexity of collective phases in highly tunable materials is exciting for both fundamental understanding and potential applications, yet many questions remain about when and why these phases occur. We set out to use THz light to resonantly measure fingerprints...
/4: In recent years, stacked 2D materials, called van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures, have revealed a vast array of phases with anomalous properties, from dissipationless transport to fractionalized particles. These phenomena often live at low energies (meV; terahertz, THz, frequencies).
October 20, 2025 at 9:41 AM
/4: In recent years, stacked 2D materials, called van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures, have revealed a vast array of phases with anomalous properties, from dissipationless transport to fractionalized particles. These phenomena often live at low energies (meV; terahertz, THz, frequencies).
/3 Today - the "Cavity electrodynamics of vdW heterostructures,” with co-lead author Gunda Kipp and an incredible team is published here: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Cavity electrodynamics of van der Waals heterostructures - Nature Physics
Integrating an electronic device with a cavity can cause the electrons to couple to photons strongly enough to form hybrid modes. Now, the cavity effects induced by intrinsic graphite gates are shown ...
www.nature.com
October 20, 2025 at 9:41 AM
/3 Today - the "Cavity electrodynamics of vdW heterostructures,” with co-lead author Gunda Kipp and an incredible team is published here: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
/2 So the next two weeks - I will dive into a couple of threads about a project that is in many ways the culmination of my postdoc! Today will focus more on the science results - and next week more about how this came about (inside the black box of a paper : )
October 20, 2025 at 9:41 AM
/2 So the next two weeks - I will dive into a couple of threads about a project that is in many ways the culmination of my postdoc! Today will focus more on the science results - and next week more about how this came about (inside the black box of a paper : )