Dipartimento di Fisica

Through the scientific synergy between the teams led by Stefano Lupi from the Department of Physics at Sapienza University of Rome and Alessandro Molle from the Institute for Microelectronics and Microsystems of the National Research Council (Cnr-Imm, Agrate Brianza), the generation of unconventional electronic dynamics on a new type of exotic material known as PtTe2, platinum ditelluride, has been investigated. This material is a three-dimensional Dirac semimetal with an electronic structure similar to graphene, i.e., a conductive system in which electrons show a linear energy/momentum dispersion due to their non-trivial electronic band topology. The class of materials to which PtTe2 belongs has enormous potential for photonic applications, especially in the infrared (IR) and terahertz (THz) spectral regions. The exploitation of these intrinsic properties was the focus of the work conducted by the two teams: first, platinum ditelluride was "grown" as a thin film on a substrate using chemical vapor deposition methods, a technologically essential step to integrate the material into optoelectronic and photonic devices; second, the material's growth was engineered to have a "plasmonic pattern" a sequence of linear micrometric stripes designed to trigger plasmonic resonance when illuminated by THz and IR radiation. 

This pioneering observation is the basis for developing terahertz and infrared detectors and modulators whose efficiency will be highly increased due to the non-conventional electron topology of platinum ditelluride, Given the impact and originality of this work, which has been operationally conducted by Salvatore Macis (Department of Physics at the University of Rome Sapienza) and Christian Martella (Cnr-Imm, Agrate Brianza) the results have been recently published in the prestigious journal Advanced Materials.

This publication has been supported by the European Union under the Italian National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) of Next Generation EU partnership PE0000023-NQSTI, and “Telecommunications of the Future” (PE00000001 - program “RESTART”, Structural Project DREAMS) and MUR PRIN project PHOtonics Terahertz devices based on tOpological materials (PHOTO) 2020RPEPNH.

Authors : Salvatore Macis, Annalisa D'Arco, Lorenzo Mosesso, Maria Chiara Paolozzi, Silvia Tofani, Luca Tomarchio, Pinaka Pani Tummala, Sara Ghomi, Veronica Stopponi, Eleonora Bonaventura, Chiara Massetti, Davide Codegoni, Andrea Serafini, Paolo Targa, Michele Zacchigna, Alessio Lamperti, Christian Martella, Alessandro Molle, Stefano Lupi

Magazine Advanced Materials:  https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202400554