Gianluca Rafael Delgado

Research Summary: The field of 2D materials has led to massive leaps forwards in our ability to study and control novel quantum phases in a variety of systems. So far much of the work in this field has focused on graphene based or semiconductor based structures but comparatively little work has been done on studying semi-metallic systems outside of graphene. My work as a 3rd year PhD student in the group of Prof. David Cobden will consist of using electronic transport to better understand the quantum phases of the 2D semi-metal tungsten ditelluride (WTe2) in the few-layer limit. Previous studies on WTe2 have demonstrated a wide range of  behaviors from a novel insulator to exotic two-dimensional superconductor. Recent progress in WTe2 crystal quality has yielded much purer samples that host much more robust versions of these exotic phases, allowing us to better probe their underlying nature. With this work I aim to shed light on the exotic mechanisms mediating superconductivity in WTe2 by exploring the transition from this superconducting state to a novel type of insulator. Insights from this project can help in understanding the pairing mechanism underlying high-Tc superconductors that can possibly be used in future energy applications.