Inducing Chirality in 2D Materials Using Orbital Angular Momentum Light Beams
Supervisor: Dr Paula Laborda Lalaguna
School: Chemistry
Description:
This project will investigate how orbital angular momentum (OAM) light beams can be used to impart chirality directly into flexible two-dimensional (2D) materials. Chirality, defined as the non-superimposable mirror-image property, is critical for quantum technologies, spintronics, and biosensing applications. Conventional production routes for chiral solid-state materials are energy-intensive and chemically complex. This project explores a sustainable alternative: using optical torque delivered by OAM-carrying Laguerre-Gaussian vortex beams to physically twist the atomic structure of 2D materials. The scientific basis lies in angular momentum exchange between chiral light and matter. Although optical forces are extremely weak (piconewton-scale), they are sufficient to induce out-of-plane deformations and structural asymmetries in monolayer 2D materials. Previous work from the Glasgow group demonstrated that OAM exchange can induce wrinkling in graphene and WS2 monolayers, and static chiral polarisation in oxide thin films. This project extends that work, systematically investigating how the topological charge of an OAM beam and nanostructure-concentrated optical torques generate and control chirality in transition metal dichalcogenide (TMDC) monolayers.
The student will contribute to the experimental workstream of WP1 of this grant. The student will use Raman spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy (AFM) to characterise structural modifications induced in TMDC monolayers by OAM light exposure, and will gain hands-on experience with the custom vortex beam illumination apparatus operated by the Kadodwala group.