International exchange award: Exploring Twisted Crystals for Quantum Technologies – A Collaborative Visit to NYU

Examining chiral crystal domains using a custom-built Mueller matrix microscope developed by the group at NYU

Ethan Powell a PhD student at Imperial College London was awarded an M4QN international exchange award to visit Stephanie Lee at NYU. The visit took place from 1st-11th April 2025.

Exploring Twisted Crystals for Quantum Technologies

Professor Stephanie Lee is a leading expert in the study of crystal twisting—a phenomenon that can significantly influence material properties and, in turn, improve the design and performance of optoelectronic devices. While the connection between twisting and molecular chirality is conceptually strong, it remains relatively underexplored, primarily due to limited access to a diverse range of chiral materials within her group.
At Imperial, Ethan’s team specialises in the synthesis of structurally diverse chiral small molecules, many of which had not previously been studied in the context of twisted crystallization. As part of Ethan’s visit to NYU, he brought with him a set of seven chiral compounds that he had previously synthesised but never tested for their potential to form twisted crystals.
During the visit, they carried out crystallization experiments with all seven compounds. Interestingly, each material exhibited distinctly different behaviour, highlighting the sensitivity of twisting phenomena to subtle structural variations. One compound in particular—a chiral oligothiophene—displayed pronounced twisting. Notably, certain regions of the resulting thin films exhibited homo-chiral twisting, a rare and intriguing feature with potential implications in areas such as circularly polarised light emission and nonlinear optical response.
To investigate the optical properties of the twisted crystals, they employed a combination of polarised optical microscopy, microspectrophotometry, and Mueller matrix polarimetry. These techniques provided valuable insights into how twisting modifies the optical characteristics of each material and helped lay the groundwork for future structure–property investigations.

Benefits to the UK materials and quantum community

The visit to NYU contributed to strengthening the UK’s materials and quantum community by fostering collaboration between materials science and quantum technologies across countries. Professor Stephanie Lee’s research on scaffold-directed crystallization and crystal twisting has provided valuable insights into how materials can be optimized for quantum devices. During the visit, they explored how chiral small molecules form twisted crystals, which has deepened our understanding of material properties that can be tailored for quantum applications like sensing, communications, and computing.
The visit aligned with M4QN’s goal of creating an interdisciplinary research community. The work on twisted crystals is already offering new approaches for designing materials suited for quantum systems, contributing to the development of a new generation of “Quantum Smart” researchers.
The research conducted also directly addresses both current and future needs in quantum technologies, supporting M4QN’s objective to stay ahead in the field. By engaging with researchers at NYU and across the world, it helps keep the UK at the forefront of the rapidly growing global quantum industry.

Visit Outcomes

Ethan writes “From this visit, we have already established a commitment to further collaboration between our groups. We are preparing to provide materials that their team has identified as ideal candidates for crystal formation. Additionally, we’ve started discussions on how the materials measured during this trip can be applied to specific device technologies. This ongoing collaboration holds promise for future research projects, publications, and potentially developing new methods or materials for quantum applications.”