Benjamin Hunt
Associate Professor, Physics, Mellon College of Science | Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA, UNITED STATES
Benjamin Hunt's research centers on condensed-matter physics, particularly the way electrons behave when subjected to extreme conditions.
Biography
Benjamin Hunt's research centers around condensed-matter physics, particularly in the way electrons behave when subjected to extreme conditions such as ultra-low temperatures and high magnetic fields. He is currently investigating the physics of low-dimensional structures, especially "van der Waals heterostructures" of two-dimensional crystals (the most familiar of which is graphene), which are built in the lab and then fashioned into mesoscopic devices using nanofabrication techniques, as well as a variety of methods for probing these mesoscopic devices, such as electronic transport, capacitance, tunneling spectroscopy and shot noise.
Areas of Expertise (3)
Physics
Sustainability
Nanofabrication
Media
Publications:
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Industry Expertise (2)
Education/Learning
Nanotechnology
Accomplishments (2)
Cottrell Scholar (professional)
2019
Department of Energy Early Career Award (professional)
2017
Education (3)
Cornell University: Ph.D., Physics 2009
Cornell University: Physics, M.S. 2007
McGill University: B.S., Physics 2002
Affiliations (1)
- American Physical Society
Links (5)
Event Appearances (5)
“Novel Superconductors in Two-Dimensional Materials and Heterostructures”
(2019) Condensed-Matter Physics Seminar University of Utah
“Comprehensive Undergraduate Nanoscience Lab”
(2019) Cottrell Scholars Conference Tucson, AZ
"Novel Superconductors in Two-Dimensional Materials"
(2019) Physics Colloquium University of New Hampshire
“Proximity Induced Superconducting Gap in the Quantum Spin Hall Edge State of Monolayer WTe2"
(2019) Department of Energy - Experimental Condensed Matter Physics - PI Meeting
“Ising Superconductivity and Proximity Induced Pairing in Monolayer Transition-Metal Dichalcogenides”
(2019) Condensed-Matter Physics Seminar Brown University
Articles (5)
Tunneling spectroscopy of two-dimensional materials based on via contacts
Nano Letters2022 We introduce a novel planar tunneling architecture for van der Waals heterostructures based on via contacts, namely, metallic contacts embedded into through-holes in hexagonal boron nitride (hBN). We use the via-based tunneling method to study the single-particle density of states of two different two-dimensional (2D) materials, NbSe2 and graphene.
Quantum Spin Hall Edge States and Interlayer Coupling in Twisted Bilayer WTe2
Nano Letters2022 The quantum spin Hall (QSH) effect, characterized by topologically protected spin-polarized edge states, was recently demonstrated in monolayers of the transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) WTe2. However, the robustness of this topological protection remains largely unexplored in van der Waals heterostructures containing one or more layers of a QSH insulator.
Charged bosons made of fermions in bilayer structures with strong metallic screening
Nano Letters2021 Two-dimensional monolayer structures of transition metal dichalogenides (TMDs) have been shown to allow many higher-order excitonic bound states, including trions (charged excitons), biexcitons (excitonic molecules), and charged biexcitons. We report here experimental evidence and the theoretical basis for a new bound excitonic complex, consisting two free carriers bound to an exciton in a bilayer structure.
Direct measurement of ferroelectric polarization in a tunable semimetal
Nature Communications2021 Ferroelectricity, the electrostatic counterpart to ferromagnetism, has long been thought to be incompatible with metallicity due to screening of electric dipoles and external electric fields by itinerant charges. Recent measurements, however, demonstrated signatures of ferroelectric switching in the electrical conductance of bilayers and trilayers of WTe2, a semimetallic transition metal dichalcogenide with broken inversion symmetry.
Electrical probes of the non-Abelian spin liquid in Kitaev materials
Physical Review X2020 Recent thermal-conductivity measurements evidence a magnetic-field-induced non-Abelian spin-liquid phase in the Kitaev material α− RuCl 3. Although the platform is a good Mott insulator, we propose experiments that electrically probe the spin liquid’s hallmark chiral Majorana edge state and bulk anyons, including their exotic exchange statistics.
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