Researchers make moiré 2D materials without stacking, twisting

Cornell researchers have developed a new way to create moiré patterns – atomic-scale structures that can give materials unusual quantum behaviors – without relying on the difficult-to-control twisting and stacking methods traditionally used.

Moiré patterns arise when ultra-thin layers of materials are stacked slightly out of alignment, creating structural changes in atomic lattices that can alter how electrons move through a material. This can produce quantum behaviors such as correlated insulating states, magnetism and superconductivity.

But engineering moiré patterns has largely depended on manually rotating and stacking 2D flakes of materials, a process with limited reproducibility and scalability.

A new type of moiré engineering, published May 27 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, uses a coating of thin films to apply controlled strain to layers of molybdenum disulfide, generating moiré superlattices across the material.

Read the full story in the Cornell Chronicle.

Quantum facility advances with $13.5M from Duffield Engineering

The buildout of a 10,000-square-foot quantum research facility at Cornell is advancing with a new $10 million investment from the Cornell Duffield College of Engineering, with an additional $3.5 million announced to support collaborative research projects.

The funding comes from a record-setting $371.5 million gift received from David Duffield ’62, MBA ’64, and builds on plans first unveiled in 2025 as part of an expansion and renovation of Duffield Hall. A key goal of the project is to establish a state-of-the-art, quantum-ready “collaboratory” space to support quantum engineering science and technology research and innovations. The new funding will equip the facility with instrumentation and technical expertise to fabricate quantum devices, among other capabilities.

Unlike traditional models in which university research labs are designed to support work by a single or small groups of investigators, Duffield Engineering’s “collaboratory” concept centers on a shared, multi-user facility that lowers barriers to entry into an emerging field for faculty and students across the college and university.

Read the full story in the Cornell Chronicle.

Soundwaves settle debate about elusive quantum particle

In 2018, researchers in Japan claimed to find concrete evidence of an elusive particle, a Majorana fermion, in a quantum spin liquid called ruthenium trichloride. Majoranas are highly sought-after by quantum materials scientists because when a pair are localized, or trapped, they can securely encode information and form a stable qubit – the building block of quantum computing.

Some researchers heralded the finding and used it to launch their own studies, while others believed the breakthrough – which was made by measuring what’s called the thermal Hall effect – was actually a mirage caused by defects in the material sample.

Cornell researchers have now waded into the debate and their findings, published April 22 in Nature, show both camps were wrong. By measuring the movement of soundwaves rather than the flow of heat, the team discovered the thermal Hall effect was caused by rotating lattice vibrations called chiral phonons.

Read the full story in the Cornell Chronicle.