• PhotoTBG

    Moiré materials for infrared and THz emission and detection technologies

Welcome to PhotoTBG

PhotoTBG is a FLAG-ERA funded project intended to determine the appropriateness of twisted bilayer graphene (TBG) and twisted double bilayer graphene (TDBG) for infrared photodetection and THz radiation emission harnessing on the recently found new properties of these moire superlattices by studing the fundamental light-matter interactions, enabling a new generation of infrared and THz optoelectronic devices.

About us

PhotoTBG

GOALS

IMPACT

IMPLEMENTATION

PARTNERS

PUBLICATIONS

Latest Publications

High-speed graphene-based sub-terahertz receivers enabling wireless communications for 6G and beyond

Soundarapandian, K.P., Castilla, S., Koepfli, S.M. et al. High-speed graphene-based sub-terahertz receivers enabling wireless communications for 6G and beyond. Nat Commun 17, 2627 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-69186-6 Abstract Wireless…

Photovoltage microscopy of symmetrically twisted trilayer graphene

Batlle Porro, S., Călugăru, D., Hu, H. et al. Photovoltage microscopy of symmetrically twisted trilayer graphene. Nat. Phys. 21, 1934–1941 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-025-03071-9 Abstract A full microscopic description of…

Tailoring Phonon Polaritons in hBN with the Plasmonic Phase-Change Material In3SbTe2

Jäckering, L., Moos, A., Conrads, L., Li, Y., Rothstein, A., Malik, D., … Taubner, T. (2025). Tailoring Phonon Polaritons in hBN with the Plasmonic Phase-Change Material In3SbTe2. Nano Letters, 25(44), 15809–15816. doi:10.1021/acs.nanolett.5c03325 Abstract Polaritons…

In situ engineering hexagonal boron nitride in van der Waals heterostructures with selective SF6 etching

Hitesh Agarwalet al (2025) In situ engineering hexagonal boron nitride in van der Waals heterostructures with selective SF6 etching J. Phys. Mater. 8 045006. DOI 10.1088/2515-7639/adfd15 Abstract Van der Waals heterostructures are at…

Single-photon detection enabled by negative differential conductivity in moiré superlattices

Krystian Nowakowski et al. Single-photon detection enabled by negative differential conductivity in moiré superlattices. Science389,644-649(2025). DOI:10.1126/science.adu5329 Abstract Detecting individual light quanta is essential for…

Gate-Defined Single-Electron Transistors in Twisted Bilayer Graphene

Rothstein, A., Fischer, A., Achtermann, A., Icking, E., Hecker, K., Banszerus, L., … Stampfer, C. (2025). Gate-Defined Single-Electron Transistors in Twisted Bilayer Graphene. Nano Letters, 25(16), 6429–6437. doi:10.1021/acs.nanolett.4c06492 Abstract Twisted…

Terahertz photocurrent probe of quantum geometry and interactions in magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene

Krishna Kumar, R., Li, G., Bertini, R. et al. Terahertz photocurrent probe of quantum geometry and interactions in magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene. Nat. Mater. (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-025-02180-3 Abstract Moiré materials…

Super-Resolution Imaging of Nanoscale Inhomogeneities in hBN-Covered and Encapsulated Few-Layer Graphene

L. Jäckering, K. G. Wirth, L. Conrads, J. B. Profe, A. Rothstein, H. Kyoseva, K. Watanabe, T. Taniguchi, D. M. Kennes, C. Stampfer, L. Waldecker, T. Taubner, Super-Resolution Imaging of Nanoscale Inhomogeneities in hBN-Covered and Encapsulated…

Infrared Spectroscopy for Diagnosing Superlattice Minibands in Twisted Bilayer Graphene near the Magic Angle

Li, G., Krishna Kumar, R., Stepanov, P., Pantaleón, P. A., Zhan, Z., Agarwal, H., Bercher, A., Barrier, J., Watanabe, K., Taniguchi, T., Kuzmenko, A. B., Guinea, F., Torre, I., & Koppens, F. H. L. (2024). Infrared Spectroscopy for Diagnosing…

Ultrasteep Slope Cryogenic FETs Based on Bilayer Graphene

Eike Icking, David Emmerich, Kenji Watanabe, Takashi Taniguchi, Bernd Beschoten, Max C. Lemme, Joachim Knoch, and Christoph Stampfer. Ultrasteep Slope Cryogenic FETs Based on Bilayer Graphene. Nano Letters 2024 24 (37), 11454-11461 DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.4c02463 Abstract Cryogenic…

One-dimensional proximity superconductivity in the quantum Hall regime

Barrier, J., Kim, M., Kumar, R.K. et al. One-dimensional proximity superconductivity in the quantum Hall regime. Nature 628, 741–745 (2024). DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07271-w Abstract Extensive efforts have been undertaken…

Negative electronic compressibility in charge islands in twisted bilayer graphene

Robin J. Dolleman, Alexander Rothstein, Ammon Fischer, Lennart Klebl, Lutz Waldecker, Kenji Watanabe, Takashi Taniguchi, Dante M. Kennes, Florian Libisch, Bernd Beschoten, and Christoph Stampfer. Negative electronic compressibility in charge…

Band gap formation in commensurate twisted bilayer graphene/hBN moiré lattices

A. Rothstein, C. Schattauer, R. J. Dolleman, S. Trellenkamp, F. Lentz, K. Watanabe, T. Taniguchi, D. M. Kennes, B. Beschoten, C. Stampfer, and F. Libisch. Band gap formation in commensurate twisted bilayer graphene/hBN moiré lattices. Phys.…

An open-source robust machine learning platform for real-time detection and classification of 2D material flakes

Jan-Lucas Uslu, Taoufiq Ouaj, David Tebbe, Alexey Nekrasov, Jo Henri Bertram, Marc Schütte, Kenji Watanabe, Takashi Taniguchi, Bernd Beschoten, Lutz Waldecker and Christoph Stampfer. An open-source robust machine learning platform for real-time…

Experimental signatures of the transition from acoustic plasmon to electronic sound in graphene

David Barcons Ruiz, Niels C.H. Hesp, Hanan Herzig Sheinfux, Carlos Ramos Marimón , Curdin Martin Maissen , Alessandro Principi, Reza Asgari, Takashi Taniguchi, Kenji Watanabe, Marco Polini, Rainer Hillenbrand, Iacopo Torre , and Frank H.L.…

Ultra-broadband photoconductivity in twisted graphene heterostructures with large responsivity

Agarwal, H., Nowakowski, K., Forrer, A. et al. Ultra-broadband photoconductivity in twisted graphene heterostructures with large responsivity. Nat. Photon. 17, 1047–1053 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41566-023-01291-0 Abstract The…

Transverse Hypercrystals Formed by Periodically Modulated Phonon Polaritons

Herzig Sheinfux, H., Jung, M., Orsini, L., Ceccanti, M., Mahalanabish, A., Martinez-Cercós, D., … Koppens, F. H. L. (2023). Transverse Hypercrystals Formed by Periodically Modulated Phonon Polaritons. ACS Nano, 17(8), 7377–7383. doi:10.1021/acsnano.2c11497 Abstract Photonic…

Dynamics of optical vortices in van der Waals materials

Kurman, Y., Dahan, R., Herzig Shenfux, H., Rosolen, G., Janzen, E., Edgar, J. H., … Kaminer, I. (2023). Dynamics of optical vortices in van der Waals materials. Optica, 10(5), 612–618. https://doi.org/10.1364/OPTICA.485120 Abstract Quantized…

News & Events

Graphene receivers bring energy-efficient 6G hardware closer to reality

The 6th generation (6G) communication technology aims to transmit data through an enhanced wireless connectivity infrastructure at higher speeds and with greater capacity than current 5G. One major challenge is the detection of data signals,…

Making spatial images of quantum interactions in twisted materials through an innovative nano-optical microscopy tool

Twisted two-dimensional (2D) materials host a wide range of correlated quantum phenomena, including superconductivity and exotic ferromagnetism. Their fundamental and technological relevance has driven the search for techniques capable of capturing…

Exposing graphene’s surface without sacrificing quality

The synthesis of high-quality hexagonal-boron nitride (hBN) marked a turning point in two-dimensional (2D) materials research. By encapsulating a 2D material (for instance, graphene) in between hBN layers, the relevant 2D material is protected…

PhotoTBG researchers overcome long-standing bottleneck in single photon detection with twisted 2D materials

While studying layered two-dimensional materials, PhotoTBG researchers observed an anomaly—an unexpected transition in the system’s state triggered by light. That anomaly turned out to be single-photon sensitivity with extraordinary properties…

Unveiling the hidden quantum structure of twisted bilayer graphene with terahertz light

ICFO researchers, including PhotoTBG partners, in an international collaboration, have used terahertz light to explore exotic phenomena within magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene. This approach reveals previously unseen behaviors and provides…

A Novel One-Dimensional Superconductor

In a significant development in the field of superconductivity, researchers at the University of Manchester in collaboration with ICFO, including PhotoTBG team members, have successfully achieved robust superconductivity in high magnetic fields…

Twisted Graphene Enables Ultra-Broadband Light Detection

An international team of researchers including team members of the PhotoTBG project reports in Nature Photonics use Twisted Double Bilayer Graphene to develop an efficient detector capable of continuous imaging over an ultra-broad range of light…

Our team

Overview

Acronym: PhotoTBG

Full Title: Moiré enhanced infrared photodetection and THz emission in twisted graphene superlattices

Call: FLAG-ERA JTC 2021 Proposal

Duration: 36 months