Ionic Control of Nonlinear Properties of 2D Oxyhalides

Abstract

Quantum computers and AI hardware depend on materials whose response to light and electricity is nonlinear. This enables converting complex signals into decisions or preparing quantum states. Nonetheless, few materials work well at the tiny scales chips require. A promising family is the layered oxyhalides, crystals that generate and split light with unusual efficiency and can be peeled into atomically thin sheets. However, they barely conduct electricity, limiting their application in devices. This project asks whether the chemistry that charges a lithium battery can solve that problem. Sliding lithium ions between the layers should supply electrical carriers without spoiling the optical behavior. That step was thought impossible in these fragile crystals until our recent demonstration of reversible lithium insertion in niobium oxychloride. Chemists and physicists will work side by side, pairing crystal growth and electrochemistry with device fabrication and optical measurement. Together we will build a chip that adds ions to several crystals and measures their properties at once, turning slow trial and error into rapid screening. Better nonlinear materials would let quantum computers and AI systems move and process information using far less power, easing the rising energy demand of computing.