Materials often exhibit new properties under extreme conditions. At very high pressures, the individual crystal layers of a vdW heterostructure are compressed towards one another. This can significantly enhance the electronic coupling between layers, driving potential reconstructions of the atomic lattice and emergent electronic states. For example, applying pressure to twisted bilayer graphene can dynamically tune the existence and strength of superconductivity and other correlated states.

We are developing new experimental techniques for applying high pressure to vdW heterostructures and characterizing the exotic electronic states which emerge as a consequence.