That is the question behind the Quantum Interfaces project led by Senior Researcher Stela Canulescu and her team. Supported by a Novo Nordisk Foundation NERD grant, the project will investigate whether interfaces between atomically thin materials can create entirely new ways of converting light into electrical signals.
Eliminating the junction
Solar cells have transformed our ability to generate clean electricity. Yet most solar-cell technologies still operate according to essentially the same principle: light generates electrical charges, which are then separated by a semiconductor junction and collected to produce electricity.
But Stela and her team are now exploring whether there could be a fundamentally different way of doing this, to save space, weight and power.
The Quantum Interfaces project will work with two-dimensional (2D) materials – materials made up of layers only a few atoms thick. By stacking different 2D materials, the researchers will create interfaces where the materials meet and interact.
The team will investigate whether these engineered interfaces can generate a phenomenon known as a shift current. Unlike conventional solar-cell operation, a shift current can produce an electrical current, without relying on a traditional semiconductor junction.
The researchers want to understand whether this effect can be deliberately designed and controlled by engineering the interface between different 2D materials.
One material, several functions
If successful, this work could open a new route towards ultrathin technologies that combine several functions in the same material structure.
Today, functions such as detecting light, generating energy and storing information are generally handled by separate components. Moving information between these components requires energy and adds complexity to electronic systems.
At the material level, however, it may be possible to combine some of these functions.
A material that can detect light, generate an electrical signal and potentially store information in the same structure could give us completely new ways of designing future sensors and electronics.
Such technologies could be particularly attractive for applications where size, weight and energy consumption matter.
Because 2D materials are only a few atomic layers thick, they require very little material. This could enable devices that are not only extremely thin and lightweight, but also highly resource-efficient.
A new approach
The researchers do not yet know how strong the interface-generated effects will be, or whether they can be controlled well enough to form the basis of useful technologies.
Rather than starting with an existing material and trying to optimise its properties, the team will investigate whether interface engineering can itself become a strategy for creating new functionality.
The grant will also allow us to establish a dedicated research effort focused on quantum interfaces, including a tenure-track researcher, two PhD students and three postdoctoral researchers working alongside the principal investigator.
The ultimate goal is not simply to make a better version of today's solar cell.
It is to explore whether the interface between materials can become a new building block for technologies that combine light, electricity and information, potentially offering a radically different approach to future energy and electronic devices.
