MPSD researchers map nearly 9,000 atomically thin structures.

Researchers from Princeton University and the Max Planck Institute for Structure and Dynamics of Matter have compiled a catalog of 8,872 two-dimensional materials, dramatically expanding the search beyond graphene and transition metal dichalcogenides for use in twistronics research. The team’s work, published in two back-to-back papers in Science, also identifies 1,568 insulating and 61 semimetal candidates particularly well-suited for creating new quantum simulators. “Twistronics has so far been built on a handful of materials that happened to work,” says Angel Rubio, Director of the MPSD Theory Department, “Together, these two efforts give the field a systematic way to identify the next ones.” This curated database offers a materials roadmap for exploring quantum states beyond those achievable with current platforms. This systematic cataloging of electronic structures and topologies represents a departure from relying…