Low-dimensional materials, 0D (quantum dots), 1D (nanowires, nanotubes) and 2D (graphene, transition metal dichalcogenides), show unique and exotic properties compared to their bulk counterparts due to quantum confinement, making them promising building blocks for futuristic computing and information based on quantum systems.

We are manipulating dimensional confinement using a series of synthetic methods to create various quantum effects. For example, atomically thin 2D MoS2 nanoribbons with sub-10 nm width have been synthesized. In addition to the confinement in thickness, another quantum confinement on width is added with these nanoribbons, leading to more exotic properties. Field-effect transistors (FETs) have been fabricated based on these nanoribbons, which show unusually high carrier mobility and single electron charging behavior due to Coulomb Blockade effect. By optimizing contacts and designs of the device, novel properties like superconducting, ballistic transporting, and quantum spin-Hall effect are expected to be explored, which can potentially create new qubits for quantum information processing and quantum computing.