Amgen Scholars: Announcements of Opportunity
Below are Announcements of Opportunity posted by Caltech faculty for the Amgen Scholars program.
Announcements of Opportunity are posted as they are received. Please check back regularly for new AO submissions! Remember: This is just one way that you can go about identifying a suitable project and/or mentor. For additional tips on identifying a mentor click here.
Please remember:
- Students pursuing Amgen must be U.S. citizens, U.S. permanent residents, or students with DACA status.
- Students pursuing Amgen must complete the 10-week program from June 18 - August 23, 2024. Students must commit to these dates. No exceptions will be made.
- Accepted students must live in provided Caltech housing.
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| Project: | 2D Topological Superconductors | ||||||||
| Disciplines: | Physics, Applied Physics, Materials Science, Chemistry, Electrical Engineering | ||||||||
| Mentor: |
Suyang Xu,
Assistant Professor, (CCE),
suyangxu@fas.harvard.edu, |
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| Mentor URL: | https://topo.chemistry.harvard.edu/ (opens in new window) | ||||||||
| AO Contact: | Damien Berube, damien@g.harvard.edu | ||||||||
| Background: |
NOTE: This project is being offered by a Caltech alum and his advisor and is open only to Caltech students. The project will be conducted at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Since the discovery of graphene (an atomically thin sheet of carbon atoms) in 2004, research into 2D materials has expanded rapidly across a large array of material platform. Nowadays, magnets, semiconductors, insulators, and superconductors can all be made down to the 2D limit. This new ability allows us to ask questions that could not be answered before: at the 2D scale, the electronic structure changes significantly, and quantum effects become prominent. We aim to study these novel responses in a suite of 2D superconducting crystals. We are particularly intrigued by what happens when different phenomena intersect, for example by studying the interaction of ferroelectricity and superconductivity. In addition, our lab is interested in topological physics, i.e. electronic properties that are invariant under transformations (impurity, defects) to the material. In the context of superconductors, topology may be the key to finding long sought-after particles that could unlock robust quantum computing. Our research is inherently interdisciplinary: while we study phenomena described by condensed matter physics, we are housed in the chemistry department and frequently call on skills from materials science, electrical engineering, nanofabrication and nanoimaging. |
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| Description: | In this project, the student will learn and carry out all techniques involved in the fabrication, characterization, and measurement of 2D topological superconductors. A great advantage of our field of study is the simplicity of the main techniques: exfoliation only requires scotch tape, finding flakes only needs a microscope, etc. Autonomy in fabricating devices can therefore be achieved quickly. Our goal is thus for the student to make a sizeable impact in our research by assisting in all aspects of the project and taking the lead in areas where they can develop expertise over the summer. | ||||||||
| References: |
https://journals.aps.org/rmp/abstract/10.1103/RevModPhys.83.1057 https://www.nature.com/articles/nature12385 https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.75.2004 https://arxiv.org/abs/2205.04458 |
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| Student Requirements: | Ph 125, Ph 135 or equivalent recommended but not required | ||||||||
| Programs: |
This AO can be done under the following programs:
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