Research interests

Designer Quantum Materials

We investigate the electronic properties of surfaces, interfaces, and atomic-scale heterostructures of quantum materials, where striking but poorly understood phenomena arise from strong interactions between their constituent particles. Our approach combines advanced epitaxial techniques to create atomically precise layered materials with angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES), providing a direct window into their electronic structures and many-body interactions. By integrating thin-film material growth, in-situ spectroscopic imaging, and controlled manipulation of electronic states, we aim not only to image and understand the fundamental excitations of complex materials, but also to tailor their properties, offering a powerful route to the discovery and engineering new quantum phases. We combine our experimental methods with the development of advanced tools for data processing and the development of theoretical models of electronic structure. Our current focus is on 2D materials and transition-metal oxides.

2D Quantum Materials

Control over materials thickness down to the single-atom scale has emerged as a powerful tuning parameter for manipulating not only the single-particle band structures of solids, but increasingly also their interacting electronic states and phases. A particularly attractive materials system in which to explore this is the transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), both because of their naturally-layered van der Waals structures and the wide variety of materials properties which they are known to host. Yet, how the intricate correlated electron states that underpin many of these materials’ properties evolve when the compound is thinned to the single-layer limit remains – in many cases – a controversial question. We fabricate high-quality epitaxial 2D layers and van der Waals heterostructures, using molecular-beam epitaxy and also hybrid exfoliation-epitaxy approaches. We use ARPES and ARPES-based microscopy to investigate their electronic structures, with interests in controlling charge-ordering, magnetic, and superconducting instabilities, understanding the role of spin-orbit coupling, and investigating how moiré superlattice potentials can modify, or be modified by, the collective states of the 2D materials.

Trasition Metal Oxides

Subtle collective quantum states underpin the diverse physical properties of transition metal oxides (TMOs). These complicate their physical understanding but render TMOs extremely sensitive to their local crystalline environment, offering enormous potential to tune their functional behaviour. TMOs are therefore not only an exciting playground for study of the quantum many-body problem in solids, but also, if properly controlled, a powerful platform for future technologies, providing scope to design new materials with near-arbitrary properties. We seek to understand the electronic structures at surfaces and in heterostructures of these compounds, including titenates, ruthenates, nickelates, and the recently re-discovered class of metallic delafossites. We explore the impact of spin-orbit interactions, symmetry breaking, quantum confinement, charge transfer, and subtle structural distortions, and seek to correlate structural and electronic information.