Structural design of 2D materials for electronic and optoelectronic applications

In accordance with Richard Feynman's 1959 statement, ``there's plenty of room at the bottom,'' we explore the structural design space of 2D materials for electronic and optoelectronic applications. Homogenous and inhomogeneous elastic strain [\textit{Nature Photonics} \textbf{6} (2012) 866; \textit{MRS Bulletin} \textbf{39} (2014) 108], bending [\textit{ACS Nano} \textbf{5} (2011) 3475], interlayer twist and slip [\textit{Nano Letters} \textbf{14} (2014) 5350] lead to tunable, low-energy artificial atoms, artificial superlattices and pseudoheterostructures that can regulate quasiparticle motion (excitons, electrons). The amenability of 2D materials for mechanical manipulations, combined with lithographic patterning and annealing [\textit{Nanoscale} \textbf{4} (2012) 4883; \textit{PNAS} \textbf{106} (2009) 10103], could lead to new topological physics [\textit{Science} \textbf{346} (2014) 1344] and device designs.