Congratulations to Joel Mario Müller

We congratulate Joel Mario Müller from the Reiter group on successfully completing his Bachelor’s thesis entitled “Optimierung von photonischen Kavitäten in neuartigen Halbleitermaterialien” (Optimization of photonic cavities in novel semiconductor materials).

Photonic crystals are periodic structures that can be used to control light. By structuring dielectric materials, light can be guided, reflected, or confined. While conventional semiconductors and dielectric materials have traditionally been used for photonic crystals, layered semiconductors, such as transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs), have recently attracted increasing interest. These materials are particularly interesting because they can also host single-photon emitters.

In his thesis, Joel investigated TMDC photonic crystal nanobeam waveguides using numerical simulations. These structures consist of a narrow stripe with a periodic array of holes. Due to the crystal structure of the material, the holes have a hexagonal rather than a circular shape. Joel studied how the orientation and elongation of these hexagons affect the optical properties of the structure and showed that elongated hexagonal holes can be used to improve the resulting photonic cavities.

The project was inspired by the VALERIA project, an EU-EIC funded project investigating single-photon emitters in TMDC photonic crystals.

We wish Joel all the best for the future!