Project Grant 2429281

This Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation's Mathematical and Physical Sciences (CFDA 47.049) program provides funding of $301,595 to The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania to conduct collaborative research on the development of in-plane epitaxial two-dimensional chalcogenide quantum dots for tunable quantum photonics applications. The research aims to fabricate and characterize compositionally modulated quantum dot structures embedded within atomically thin monolayer transition metal dichalcogenide sheets, with the goal of advancing the state-of-the-art in quantum light sources and quantum information processing. The award supports the thesis research of two Ph.D. students as well as the participation of undergraduate students, fostering a rich collaborative research environment. The project's technical focus areas include studies of transition metal dichalcogenide epitaxy, quantum dot heterostructures, and comprehensive exploration of the electronic and optical properties of the fabricated samples. The results will provide fundamental insights into quantum confinement in two-dimensional material systems and lay the groundwork for future development of quantum dot-based technologies.