RWTH to Receive Funding for Two Graphene Projects

Researchers from Aachen have succeeded in winning funding for two projects in FLAG-ERA’s “Graphene – Fundamental Research and Innovation” funding line. The trans-national European funding network has approved the project proposals 2D-NEMS and TATTOOS. As a result, the University will receive 680,000 euros for its research activities over the next three years.

 

RWTH professors Max Lemme and Christoph Stampfer are working on the 2D-NEMS project together with colleagues from KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden and the company Graphenea Semiconductor in Spain. The goal of the project is to explore the potential of heterostructures formed by graphene and other two-dimensional materials for realizing ultra-small and ultra-sensitive sensors, such as accelerometers.

“We want to understand which combination of 2D materials works better for a particular type of sensor and why. Above all, we want to realize prototypes that can be of real interest for industry,” says Lemme, holder of the Chair of Electronic Devices ELD at RWTH Aachen University.

 

Professor Christoph Stampfer, head of the 2nd Institute of Physics A at RWTH Aachen University, is also involved in the TATTOOS project, conducted in collaboration with researchers from the Université catholique de Louvain in Belgium and the Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS) in France.

One of the major scientific surprises of 2018 was that bilayer graphene may exhibit superconductivity and other exotic properties when the two layers are twisted at a “magic” angle relative to each other. "In TATTOOS, we will use a technique developed at the CNRS which should make it possible to dynamically rotate the angle between the layers with the tip of an atomic force microscope," explains Stampfer. He adds: "Typically, changing the angle requires making a new sample. If this approach hadn't already been successfully demonstrated on a similar system, I would not believe it could work. I am really excited to see what new type of physics we can explore in this way."

Lemme and Stampfer are both actively involved in the Aachen Graphene & 2D Materials Center, a consortium of RWTH and AMO GmbH. "The fact that we are involved in two of the nine projects financed in this funding line demonstrates the relevance of the research conducted here in Aachen", says Stampfer, who is also spokesperson of the Center.