Super-redes semicondutoras consistem de materiais semicondutores de gaps diferentes arranjados periodicamente. Os elétrons das camadas de gap mais estreito acoplam-se por tunelamento através das camadas de gap mais largo formando faixas energéticas, denominadas minibandas. A largura de uma mini banda é definida pela diferença entre seus dois limiares, o fundo e o topo. Uma singularidade de Van Hove é associada a cada limiar da minibanda. A detecção direta de uma minibanda exige técnicas experimentais que sejam sensíveis a estas singularidades. Um exemplo de técnica deste tipo, e que é frequentemente utilizada, é o efeito Shubnikov-de Haas(SdH). Outra técnica é a espectroscopia de absorção associada a transições entre a faixa de valência e a faixa de condução. Neste caso, são observados picos excitônicos associados às duas singularidades na densidade de estados. Porém, a separação em energia entre os picos de absorção não é uma medida direta ela largura da rninibanda: para estimar a largura ela minibanda seria necessário conhecer com precisão as energias de ligação dos dois tipos de éxcitons, sendo que a diferença entre estes valores é da mesma ordem de grandeza que a largura da minibanda. A formação de estados excitônicos pode ser evitada através ela dopagem, que introduz a blindagem de Coulomb e o preenchimento do espaço de fase. Entretanto, em super-redes dopadas convencionalmente, a fotoluminescência (PL) é inteiramente dominada por transições entre estados de Tamm, impedindo novamente a detecção de transições inter bandas associadas aos estados de minibanda. Neste trabalho investigamos a possibilidade de evitarmos tanto a formação de estados excitônicos quanto a formação de estados ele Tamm em super-redes com dopagem modulada, a fim de detectarmos diretamente transições interbandas associadas aos estados estendidos de minibanda por medidas de PL. A partir da solução numérica das equações de Schrödinger e Poisson foi verificado que o perfil de dopagem modulada que evita a formação de estados de Tamm consiste numa super-rede dopada planarmente no centro das camadas de gap mais largo, e também nas camadas externas, sendo o valor da dopagem nas camadas externas igual à metade do valor da dopagem nas camadas internas. Investigamos no laboratório este tipo de super-rede e confirmamos através de medidas elo efeito ScliI em ângulos oblíquos, que efetivamente os estados de Tamm não estão presentes em estruturas com este perfil de dopagem. O espectro de PL é caracterizado por uma banda cuja largura é aproximadamente igual à energia de Fermi, e é situada em energias superiores ao gap ela camada de confinamento. Estas características são indicativas de que o espectro observado é devido a transições associadas aos estados de minibanda. A fim de comprovarmos esta interpretação detectamos e analisamos o espectro de PL em função do campo magnético. Para analisar o espectro de PL desenvolvemos um modelo teórico para a forma de linha ela PL em função do campo magnético. Utilizando o modelo teórico desenvolvido foi possível realizar um levantamento completo das características da super-rede extraindo valores para a largura energética da minibanda, a massa reduzida do par elétron-buraco e a energia do gap renormalizada. Este último parâmetro não era acessível pelas técnicas mencionadas anteriormente e foi medido pela primeira vez neste trabalho. O acesso a ele abre uma nova perspectiva para o estudo de efeitos de muitos corpos em estruturas onde a dimensionalidade do sistema eletrônico pode ser controlada artificialmente. Esta perspectiva é explorada neste trabalho. / Semiconductor superlattices consist of semiconductor materials with different gaps, arranged periodically. The electrons of the narrow gap layer, coupled by tunneling through the wider gap layer, form an energy miniband. The width of a miniband is equal to the difference in energy between its two edges, the bottom and the top. A Van Hove singularity is associated with each edge of the miniband. The direct detection of a miniband demands experimental techniques sensitive to these singularities. One example of such a technique is the Shubnikov-de Haas effect (SdH). Another technique is the absorption spectroscopy associated with transitions between the valence and the conduction bands. In this case, excitonic peaks associated with the two singularities in the density of states are observed. However, to estimate the miniband width from the absorption excitonic spectrum, it would be necessary to know accurately the binding energies of both excitons involved, the difference between which values is of the same order of magnitude as the miniband energy width. It should be possible to avoid the formation of excitons by doping the superlattice, however, in superlattices doped conventionally, the photoluminescence (PL) is completely dominated by transitions between Tamm states, which precludes the observation of extended minibancl states. In this work we investigate the possibility of avoiding both the formation of excitonic states, as well as the formation of Tamm states, by tayloring the modulation doping profile, and of detecting directly the interband transitions associated to extended rniniband states by PL measurements. By solving the Schrodinger and Poisson equations numerically, it was verified that a modulation doping profile that avoids the formation of Tamm states consists in a superlattice doped at the center of the wider gap layer, and also doped in the external layers, whereby the concentration of doping atoms in the external layers is equal to half of the value used in the internal ones. Such superlattices were investigated experimentally, and it was confirmed, from SdH measurements at oblique angles, that Tamm states were not present in the structures. The PL spectrum is characterized Ly an emission band whose width is approximately equal to the Fermi energy. The PL band is situated at photon energies greater than the energy bandgap of the confining layer. These characteristics suggest that the observed spectrum is associated to extended electronic miniband states. To confirm this interpretation, we detected and analyzed the PL spectrum in an external magnetic field. A theoretical model for the lineshape of the PL as function of the magnetic field intensity was developed. Using this model, it was possible to estimate all characteristics parameters for the superlattice: the energy width of the minibanel, the reduced mass of the electron-hole pair, and the renormalized energy gap. The latter parameter is not accessible by the experimental techniques used previously, and it was measured for the first time in this work. The access to this parameter opens a new perspective for the study of many body effects in structures, in which the dimensionality of the electronic system can be controlled artificially. This perspective is explored in this work.

A preparação de vetores sintéticos para terapia gênica envolve a encapsulação de DNA em pequenos volumes em altas concentrações e nessas condições sabe-se que as moléculas de DNA podem ser organizar formando estruturas líquido-cristalinas. Essas moléculas, uma vez incorporadas a célula devem difundir e vários trabalhos experimentais têm mostrado que essa difusão é limitada pelo tamanho dos fragmentos de DNA. É nesse contexto que soluções de DNA in vitro constituem um sistema modelo para o estudo de processos dinâmicos de difusão na fase isotrópica e na fase anisotrópica. Neste trabalho investigamos a difusão de fragmentos de DNA de 150 pares de base dispersos em água com concentrações variando no intervalo de 80 a 350 mg/ml, que se situam no domínio da fase isotrópica e da fase colestérica, passando uma região intermedi ária de coexistência de fases. Nessas soluções foi acrescentado sal, em concentração suciente para blindar as interações eletrostáticas repulsivas, de maneira que os fragmentos de DNA podem ser tratados como cilindros rígidos e não interagentes. A técnica de FRAP (Fluorescence Recovery After Photobleach) foi empregada para determinação do coeciente de difusão dos fragmentos de DNA que foram marcados com uma prova uorescente, que se intercala entre os nucleotídios por meio de uma ligação covalente. As imagens de FRAP foram analisadas segundo dois métodos diferentes para ajuste do perl de intensidade de luz na mancha de bleach, que pode ser dado por uma função gaussiana, no caso de um processo de difusão isotrópico, ou uma por uma função de Bessel modicada no caso de um processo de difusão anisotrópico. Na fase isotrópica a função gaussiana é a que melhor descreve o perl de intensidade de luz da mancha de bleach e o valor obtido para o coeciente de difusão dos fragmentos de DNA está em torno de 20 m2=s, que é um valor compatível com os valores encontrados na literatura para soluções de DNA com fragmentos de mesma dimensão na fase isotrópica. Na fase colestérica, a análise das imagens de FRAP mostrou que o perl de intensidade de luz é mais bem ajustado por uma função de Bessel modi- cada, permitindo a determinação dos coecientes, D1 e D2, que correspondem aos coecientes de difusão paralelo e perpendicular à direção de orientação molecular local, respectivamente. Nessa mesofase, os valores obtidos para o coeciente de difusão estão entre 101m2=s e 102m2=s, com uma anisotropia, D1=D2 = 12. Esses resultados são compatíveis com os obtidos para soluções de vírus fd na fase nemática. Também foram feitas medidas para amostras com composição que se situam na região intermediária entre a fase isotrópica e a fase colestérica e que podem apresentar duas ou até três fases em coexistência. A análise das imagens permitiu a identicação de processos de difus ão anisotrópico e isotrópicos, em uma mesma amostra, comprovando a coexistência de fases que não são identicadas apenas pela observação da textura em microscopia de luz polarizada. / Preparation of synthetic vectors for gene therapy applications implies encapsulation of DNA in small cavities in high concentrations and in these conditions DNA molecules self-organize forming liquid crystalline structures. Once incorporated to the cell, DNA must diuse in cytoplasm and many experimental work have demonstrated that such diusion is limited by the fragments size. In this context, DNA solutions can be regarded as a promising model system for investigating isotropic and anisotropic diusion. In this work we have investigated diusion of DNA fragments, (150 base pairs), dissolved in water, for concentrations varying from 80 mg/ml to 350 mg/ml, ranging the domains of isotropic and cholesteric phases, with an intermediary region of phase coexistence. Salt was added to the solution, in concentration high enough to screen repulsive electrostatic interactions allowing us to regard DNA fragments as non interacting rigid rods. FRAP (Fluorescence Recovery After Photobleach) technique was used to determine diusion coecients of DNA fragments marked with a uorescent probe, which binds covalently to the nucleotides. Analysis of FRAP images are performed following two possible ttings to the intensity prole in bleach zone, which can be a Gaussian function, for isotropic diusion, either a Bessel modied function if the diusion process is anisotropic. In the isotropic phase the Gaussian function was found to be more appropriate to describe the intensity prole in the bleach spot zone, resulting in a diusion coecient around 20 m2=s, which is compatible with values reported in literature for DNA solutions of fragments of the same dimension in the isotropic phase. Image analysis in the cholesteric phase has shown that light intensity prole of the bleach spot is best tted with a Bessel modied function, allowing us to determine two diusion coecients, D1 and D2, corresponding to the diusion coecients parallel and perpendicular to the local molecular orientation, respectively. In such mesophase the obtained values for the diusion coecients are around 101m2=s and 102m2=s, with an anisotropy; D1=D2 = 12. Such results are compatible with results obtained in the nematic phase of virus fd solutions. Solutions with concentrations lying in the intermediary zone presenting two or even three phase in coexistence were also investigated. By applying the two tting proles to the bleach spot it was possible to identify zones in the sample corresponding to isotropic diusion process and other zones presenting anisotropic diffusion process. This conrms the coexistence of isotropic and anisotropic phases, which cannot be identied only by optical polarized microscopy.

A Na, K-ATPase é uma proteína que realiza o transporte ativo de cátions, se encontra na membrana plasmática de praticamente todas células animais e é formada por três subunidades: (110 kDa), (50 kDa) e (10 kDa). Neste trabalho, realizou-se a extração da proteína Na,K-ATPase de rim de coelho que foi preparada em 3 diferentes condições (i) fração de membrana rica em Na,K-ATPase; (ii) solubilizada e purificada em C12E8 e (iii) reconstituída em DPPC: DPPE lipossomo (1:1 lipídio:lipídio, 1:3 lipídio:proteína). Através de medidas de Espalhamento de Luz Dinâmico (DLS), Espectroscopia de Absorção (ABS) e Espalhamento de Raio-X a Baixos Ângulos (SAXS), associadas à medidas de atividade enzimática, constatou-se que a amostra de Na,K-ATPase solubilizada e purificada em C12E8 é constituida por diferentes agregados/oligômeros em solução. Com o intuito de eliminar os grandes agregados/oligômeros da amostra realizou-se a filtração (poro de 220 nm) e a adição do surfactante dodecil sulfato de sódio (SDS) e ambos procedimentos foram capazes de eliminar as populações de grandes agregados e/ou grandes oligômeros. A retirada destas populações pelo filtro promoveu um aumento de atividade específica da enzima. Já o SDS deve promover alterações conformacionais na estrutura da proteína que causam a inativação da mesma. Investigou-se variações de atividade da Na, K-ATPase através da irradiação da proteína presente em fração de membrana e reconstituída em lipossomo por meio de três lasers de baixa intensidade com comprimentos de onda diferentes: = 532 nm (5 mW), = 650 nm (50 mW) e = 780 nm (50 mW). Demonstrou-se que a variação da atividade enzimática depende do valor de dose de energia depositada, independe do comprimento de onda estudado neste intervalo e retorna para o nível basal após 6 horas. / The Na, K-ATPase is an active cation transporter protein, which is found in the plasma membrane of virtually all animal cells and it is comprised of three subunits: (110 kDa), (50 kDa) and (10 kDa). In this work, we performed the extraction of protein Na, K-ATPase from the kidney of adult rabbit for three different enzyme preparations (i) membrane-bound fraction; (ii) C12E8 solubilized and purified and (iii) reconstituted in DPPC: DPPE liposome (1: 1 - lipid: lipid, 1:3 - lipid:protein). Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS), Absorption Spectroscopy (ABS) and Small Angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS) were employed, associated with enzyme activity measurements. The results revealed that Na, K-ATPase C12E8-solubilized and purified is composed by different aggregates/oligomers. With the aim of eliminating large aggregates/oligomers from the protein sample, filtration (pore size 220 nm) and surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) addition were used. Both procedures were able to eliminate populations composed of large aggregates and/or large oligomers. The removal of these populations by the filter promoted an increase in the specific activity of the enzyme. On the other hand, SDS must promote conformational changes in the protein structure that inactivate thereof. Finally, here we also investigated variations of Na, K-ATPase activity present in the membrane-bound fraction and reconstituted in liposome under irradiation of three low-intensity lasers with different wavelengths: = 532 nm (5mW), = 650 nm (50 mW) and = 780 nm (50 mW). The results give support to the conclusion that the change in the enzymatic activity depends upon the amount of energy dose deposited, it is independent of the wavelength in the studied range and returns to the basal level after 6 hours.

O objetivo principal deste trabalho é o de investigar relações entre mapeamentos de modelos de spin em modelos de percolação e a existência de algoritmos de cluster capazes de simular de forma eficiente o modelo. Apresentamos um mapeamento do modelo de Blume-Capel em um modelo de percolação que permite reobter um algoritmo proposto anteriormente por nós através de uma prova de balanço detalhado, o que abre a possibilidade de descrevermos todo o diagrama de fases do modelo em termos de propriedades dos clusters formados. Isto é particularmente interessante, já que o modelo possui um ponto tricrítico, nunca antes analisado em termos de propriedades de percolação. Encontramos também um mapeamento para o modelo de Ashkin-Teller, e através dos algoritmos de cluster resultantes investigamos a possibilidade de existência de uma fase de Baxter Assimétrica. Analisamos também questões relacionadas ao comportamento de tamanho finito de sistemas que apresentam transições de fase de primeira ordem assimétricas. Finalmente, o algoritmo de cluster desenvolvido para o modelo de Blume-CapeI é também generalizado: de forma a podermos aplicá-lo ao estudo do modelo de Blume-Emery-Griffiths. / The main goal of this work is to investigate relations between mappings of spin models into percolation models and the possibility of devising an efficient cluster algorithm to simulate the model. We present a mapping of the Blume-Capel model into a percolation model that results in a cluster algorithm proposed previously by us through a detailed balance proof, enabling us to describe the whole phase-diagram in terms of cluster properties. This is particularly appealing, since the model has a tricritical point, a feature not yet analysed in terms of percolation properties. We present also a mapping for the Ashkin-Teller model, and using the obtained cluster algorithms we analyse the possibility of existence of the Asymmetric Baxter phase. We also address questions related to the finite-size behavior of systems in asymmetric first-order phase transitions. Finally, the cluster algorithm developed for the Blume-Capel model is generalized to the study of the Blume-Emery-Griffiths model.

In this dissertation different van der Waals heterostructures such as graphene-MoS2 and MoTe2-MoS2 were prepared and characterized. In the first heterostructure, polycrystalline graphene was synthesized by chemical vapor deposition and transferred on top of MoS2 single crystal. In the second heterostructure, MoTe2 monolayers were deposited on MoS2 by molecular beam epitaxy. Characterization of graphene-MoS2 heterostructures was conducted by spin and angle resolve spectroscopy which showed that the electronic structure of the bulk MoS2 and graphene in this van der Waals heterostructures is modified. For MoS2 underneath the graphene, a band structure renormalization and spin polarization are observed. The band structure of MoS2 is modified because the graphene induces screening which shifts the Г-point ~150 meV to lower binding compared to the sample without graphene. The spin polarization is explained by the dipole arising from band bending which breaks the symmetry at the MoS2 surface. For graphene, the band structure at lower binding energy shows that the Dirac cone remains intact with no significant doping. Instead, away from the Fermi level the formation of several gaps in the pi-band due to hybridization with states from the MoS2 is observed. For the heterostructures made depositing monolayer of MoTe2 on MoS2, the morphology, structure and electronic structure were studied. Two dimensional growth is observed under tellurium rich growth conditions and a substrate temperature of 200 °C but formation of a complete monolayer was not achieved. The obtained MoTe2 monolayer shows a high density of the mirror-twins grain boundaries arranged in a pseudo periodic wagon wheel pattern with a periodicity of ~2.6 nm. These grain boundary are formed due to Te-deficiency during the growth. The defect states from these domain boundary pin the Fermi level in MoTe2 and thus determine the band alignment in the MoTe2-MoS2 heterostructures.

In this thesis I will outline various quantum phase transitions in 2D models of magnets that are amenable to simulation with quantum Monte Carlo techniques. The key player in this work is the theory of deconfined criticality, which generically allows for zero temperature quantum phase transitions between phases that break distinct global symmetries. I will describe models with different symmetries including SU(N), SO(N), and "easy-plane" SU(N) and I will demonstrate how the presence or absence of continuous transitions in these models fits together with the theory of deconfined criticality.

In spite of being the subject of intense research, several key but complex questions on the nonequilibrium physics of correlated quantum systems remain controversial. For example, the nature of particle and energy transport in different interacting regimes, the relevance of integrability and the impact of environmental coupling are still under active debate. These problems can now be approached numerically, due to the development of powerful algorithms which allow the efficient simulation of the dynamics of correlated systems. In the present thesis we study numerically and analytically the transport properties of low-dimensional quantum systems. In particular, we consider the steady-state spin and energy conduction through XXZ boundary-driven spin-1/2 chains. In the first part, we analyse the transport through chains with only coherent processes in the bulk. For spin transport induced by a magnetisation imbalance between the boundaries, previously identified ballistic, diffusive and negative differential conductivity regimes are reproduced. We provide a comprehensive explanation of the latter. The energy conduction induced by this driving scheme features the same properties as spin transport. For thermally-driven chains, we discuss the nature of energy transport and the emergence of local thermal states when the integrability of the Hamiltonian is broken. In the second part of the thesis we analyse the effect of bulk incoherent effects on the transport properties previously discussed. First we find that for weak particle-particle interactions, pure dephasing degrades spin and energy conduction. In contrast, for strong interactions dephasing induces a significant transport enhancement. We identify the underlying mechanism and discuss its generality. Finally, motivated by the lattice structure of several organic conductors, we study the interplay between coherent and incoherent processes in systems of weakly-coupled chains. We find an enhancement effect due to incoherent interchain hopping, stronger than that by dephasing, which increases with the chain length and relates to superdiffusive transport.

Today’s society is currently performing an exit from fossilfuel energy sources. The change to sustainable alternativesrequires inexpensive and environmentally friendly energy storagedevices. However, most current devices contain expensive,rare or toxic materials. These materials must be replaced bylow-cost, abundant, nontoxic components.In this thesis, I suggest the production of paper-based electricdouble-layer capacitors (EDLCs) to meet the demand oflow-cost energy storage devices that provide high power density.To fulfill the requirements of sustainable and environmentallyfriendly devices, production of EDLCs that consist of paper,graphite and saltwater is proposed. Paper can be used as aseparator between the electrodes and as a substrate for theelectrodes. Graphite is suited for use as an active material in theelectrodes, and saltwater can be employed as an electrolyte.Westudied and developed different methods for the productionof nanographite and graphene from graphite. Composites containingthese materials and similar advanced carbon materialshave been tested as electrode materials in EDLCs. I suggest theuse of cellulose nanofibers (CNFs) or microfibrillated cellulose(MFC) as a binder in the electrodes. In addition to improvedmechanical stability, the nanocellulose improved the stabilityof graphite dispersions and the electrical performance of theelectrodes. The influence of the cellulose quality on the electricalproperties of the electrodes and EDLCs was investigated.The results showed that the finest nanocellulose quality is notthe best choice for EDLC electrodes; MFC is recommended forthis application instead. The results also demonstrated thatthe capacitance of EDLCs can be increased if the electrodemasses are adjusted according to the size of the electrolyte ions.Moreover, we investigated the issue of high contact resistancesat the interface between porous carbon electrodes and metalcurrent collectors. To reduce the contact resistance, graphitefoil can be used as a current collector instead of metal foils.Using the suggested low-cost materials, production methodsand conceptual improvements, it is possible to reduce the material costs by more than 90% in comparison with commercialunits. This confirms that paper-based EDLCs are apromising alternative to conventional EDLCs. Our findings andadditional research can be expected to substantially supportthe design and commercialization of sustainable EDLCs andother green energy technologies. / I dagens samhälle pågår en omställning från användning avfossila energikällor till förnybara alternativ. Denna förändringkräver miljövänliga och kostnadseffektiva elektriska energilagringsenheterför att möjliggöra en kontinuerlig energileverans.Dagens energilagringsenheter innehåller ofta dyra, sällsyntaeller giftiga material som behöver bytas ut för att nå hållbaralösningar.I denna avhandling föreslås att tillverka pappersbaseradesuperkondensatorer som möter kraven för kostnadseffektivaelektriska energilagrare med hög effekttäthet. För att nå kravenpå miljömässigt hållbara enheter föreslås användning avendast papper, grafit och saltvatten. Papper kan användas somseparator mellan elektroder likväl som substrat vid elektrodbestrykning.Grafit kan användas som aktivt elektrodmaterialoch saltvatten fungerar som elektrolyt. Olika metoder har härutvecklats för att producera nanografit och grafen från grafit.Dessa material har tillsammans med liknande, kommersiellt tillgängliga,avancerade kolmaterial testats i elektrodkompositerför superkondensatorer. Som bindemedel i dessa kompositerföreslås nanofibrillerad eller mikrofibrillerad cellulosa. Jaghar demonstrerat att nanocellulosa ökar dispersionsstabilitetensamt förbättrar den mekaniska stabiliteten och dom elektriskaegenskaperna i elektroderna. Hur cellulosans kvalitet påverkarelektroderna har undersökts och visar att den finaste kvaliteteninte är det bästa valet för superkondensatorer, istället rekommenderasmikrofibrillerad cellulosa. Utöver detta demonstrerasmöjligheten att öka superkondensatorernas kapacitans genomatt balansera elektrodernas massa med hänsyn till jonernasstorlek i elektrolyten. I avhandlingen diskuteras även svårigheternamed hög kontaktresistans i gränssnittet mellan porösakolstrukturer och metallfolie och hur detta kan undvikas omgrafitfolie används som kontakt.Genom att använda de material, produktionstekniker ochkonceptförbättringar som föreslås i avhandlingen är det möjligtatt reducera materialkostnaderna med mer än 90% i jämförelsemed kommersiella superkondensatorer. Detta bekräftar att pappersbaserade superkondensatorer är ett lovande alternativoch våra resultat tillsammans med vidare utveckling harstor potential att stödja övergången till miljömässigt hållbarasuperkondensatorer och annan grön energiteknik. / <p>Vid tidpunkten för disputationen var följande delarbeten opublicerade: delarbete 6 inskickat.</p><p>At the time of the doctoral defence the following papers were unpublished: paper 6 submitted.</p>

The main body of this thesis describes how to calculate scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) images from first-principles methods. The theory is based on localized orbital density functional theory (DFT), whose limitations for large-vacuum STM models are resolved by propagating localized-basis wave functions close to the surface into the vacuum region in real space. A finite difference approximation is used to define the vacuum Hamiltonian, from which accurate vacuum wave functions are calculated using equations based on standard single-particle Green’s function techniques, and ultimately used to compute the conductance. By averaging over the lateral reciprocal space, the theory is compared to a series of high-quality experiments in the low- bias limit, concerning copper surfaces with adsorbed carbon monoxide (CO) species and adsorbate atoms, scanned by pure and CO-functionalized copper tips. The theory compares well to the experiments, and allows for further insights into the elastic tunneling regime. A second significant project in this thesis concerns first-principles calculations of a simple chemical reaction of a hydroxyl (oxygen-deuterium) monomer adsorbed on a copper surface. The reaction mechanism is provided by tunneling electrons that, via a finite electron-vibration coupling, trigger the deuterium atom to flip between two nearly identical configurational states along a frustrated rotational motion. The theory suggests that the reaction primarily occurs via nuclear tunneling for the deuterium atom through the estimated reaction barrier, and that over-barrier ladder climbing processes are unlikely.

Atomically thin, semiconducting transition metal dichalogenides (TMDs), a special class of layered semiconductors, that can be shaped as a perfect two dimensional material, have garnered a lot of attention owing to their fascinating electronic properties which are achievable at the extreme nanoscale. In contrast to graphene, the most celebrated two-dimensional (2D) material thus far; TMDs exhibit a direct band gap in the monolayer regime. The presence of a non-zero bandgap along with the broken inversion symmetry in the monolayer limit brands semiconducting TMDs as the perfect candidate for future optoelectronic and valleytronics-based device application. These remarkable discoveries demand exploration of different materials that possess similar properties alike TMDs. Recently, III-VI layered semiconducting materials (example: InSe, GaSe etc.) have also emerged as potential materials for optical device based applications as, similar to TMDs, they can be shaped into a perfect two-dimensional form as well as possess a sizable band gap in their nano-regime. The perfect 2D character in layered materials cause enhancement of strong Coulomb interaction. As a result, excitons, a coulomb bound quasiparticle made of electron-hole pair, dominate the optical properties near the bandgap. The basis of development for future optoelectronic-based devices requires accurate characterization of the essential properties of excitons. Two fundamental parameters that characterize the quantum dynamics of excitons are: a) the dephasing rate, 𝛾, which represents the coherence loss due to the interaction of the excitons with their environment (for example- phonons, impurities, other excitons, etc.) and b) excited state population decay rate arising from radiative and non-radiative relaxation processes. The dephasing rate is representative of the time scale over which excitons can be coherently manipulated, therefore accurately probing the source of exciton decoherence is crucial for understanding the basic unexplored science as well as creating technological developments. The dephasing dynamics in semiconductors typically occur in the picosecond to femtosecond timescale, thus the use of ultrafast laser spectroscopy is a potential route to probe such excitonic responses. The focus of this dissertation is two-fold: firstly, to develop the necessary instrumentation to accurately probe the aforementioned parameters and secondly, to explore the quantum dynamics and the underlying many-body interactions in different layered semiconducting materials. A custom-built multidimensional optical non-linear spectrometer was developed in order to perform two-dimensional spectroscopic (2DFT) measurements. The advantages of this technique are multifaceted compared to regular one-dimensional and non-linear incoherent techniques. 2DFT technique is based on an enhanced version of Four wave mixing experiments. This powerful tool is capable of identifying the resonant coupling, probing the coherent pathways, unambiguously extracting the homogeneous linewidth in the presence of inhomogeneity and decomposing a complex spectra into real and imaginary parts. It is not possible to uncover such crucial features by employing one dimensional non-linear technique. Monolayers as well as bulk TMDs and group III-VI bulk layered materials are explored in this dissertation. The exciton quantum dynamics is explored with three pulse four-wave mixing whereas the phase sensitive measurements are obtained by employing two-dimensional Fourier transform spectroscopy. Temperature and excitation density dependent 2DFT experiments unfold the information associated with the many-body interactions in the layered semiconducting samples.