Two Science papers map the electronic structures of about 9,000 two-dimensional materials and identify over 1,600 twistable candidates, laying a foundation for designing new quantum matter.

The 2D adaptation of topological quantum chemistry links crystal symmetry and composition to electronic state topology, enabling identification of robust edge states and potential edge conduction in 2D insulators for quantum technologies.

The catalog, crystallographic tables, analysis programs, and the Topological 2D Materials Database let researchers compare monolayers, select promising candidates, and design layered or twisted structures akin to magic-angle graphene.

The work represents a large, international collaboration spanning Princeton, Rice, the University of the Basque Country, Max Planck Institute, Cornell, and more, with theory and experiment across numerous centers.

Collaborative effort highlighted by Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter and Rice University, with co-authors including B. Andrei Bernevig of Princeton, published in Science.

Growth conditions are unique to each material, and teams are moving from candidate lists to physical samples for broader experimental validation.

The process is iterative and collaborative, as each compound requires tailored growth to become measurable samples.

Interdisciplinary collaboration across chemistry, physics, and materials science is advancing surface functionalization control, scalable fabrication, and exploration of macroscopic moiré patterns to tailor electronic properties.

Researchers acknowledge many phenomena don’t fit existing theory, underlining the need for new models to describe twisted moiré systems and their unconventional superconducting and topological states.

Universities and industry collaborations, including Chicago, Fermilab, and IBM Quantum, push twistronics forward with tools like LASSQD and improved synthesis of 2D moiré materials such as MXenes and perovskites.

Candidates span hexagonal, square, rectangular, and oblique lattices, enabling simulations of Hubbard-like physics and other quantum phenomena through twisting.

The initiative expands quantum research platforms beyond current materials, supported by programs like Munich Quantum Valley and the Max Planck Society.