Magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene or ‘moire’ graphene has garnered significant attention in the condensed matter physics community in the last few years, due to its unprecedented electrical tunability to host various phenomena, ranging from superconductivity, insulating states to magnetism. Layered 2D crystals allow a vast range of choices for combining these materials, their stacking order and rotational alignment. This has led to the exploration of quantum electronic properties of moiré van der Waals heterostructures, with tunable twist-angles that influence their properties 

Our research focuses on the following aspects of moiré materials: 

(1) understanding and engineering of the dielectric environment of these heterostructures

(2) tailoring their interactions via proximity-induced spin-orbit coupling

(3) stabilizing new phases of matter such as charge density waves and orbital ferromagnetism 

(4) exploring the interplay of topology, symmetry and correlations 

In this research direction, our efforts have been to push the boundaries of conventional transport measurement techniques. We have developed a variety of extended transport techniques to unravel various physical properties of 2D materials, including non-equilibrium transport, non-linear transport, planar tunneling and electrostatic force microscopy. These techniques offer new avenues to explore a rich variety of excitations in two dimensional electron systems, providing insights into the charge dynamics and interaction effects.

Our approach aims at investigating emergent phenomena as well as piezotronic effects in 2D systems using a combination of techniques that are expected to provide a tunable, strain-sensitive experimental platform. Our approach combines lithographically patterned dielectrics/substrates that can provide a homogenous strain field across the bulk of the sample, along with an in-situ control over strain using flexible substrates.