IMR: Aquisition of Cryogenic Prober for Nanoscale Materials and Device Characterization

提供给该项目的材料研究仪器（IMR）资金将用于购买微操作低温探针站。该仪器将促进宾夕法尼亚州立大学材料研究科学与工程中心纳米尺度科学制造的各种材料和器件的温度依赖性表征，包括铁电薄膜和纳米管，半导体和超导体纳米线，以及金属-分子-金属结。这些测量将提供对基本材料特性的深入了解，如尺度铁电薄膜中的畴壁运动和一维纳米结构中的电输运。该系统为这些样品提供了优于传统低温恒温器的优势，因为它通过结合六个独立控制的微操纵低噪声探头，用于接触大样品直径的设备，从而消除了潜在的破坏性设备封装（即切割，安装和电线粘合）步骤。此外，在一次冷却中探测多个设备的能力将使收集设备到设备变化的数据变得更加容易，这在许多新的纳米级材料（如这里描述的那些）中已被证明是重要的。低温探针系统也将在本科研究和实验室课程中产生更广泛的教育影响。几个新的实验模块将被纳入现有的本科和研究生物理和电气工程课程，以提供纳米材料和器件中物理效应的温度依赖测量的指导。提供给该项目的材料研究仪器（IMR）资金将用于购买微操作低温探针站。该仪器包含六个独立控制的探头，用于接触单个片上设备，这些设备通过连续流动的液氦低温恒温器保持在4到300 K之间的温度。探针站将促进宾夕法尼亚州立大学纳米科学材料研究科学与工程中心制造的各种新器件的温度依赖性表征，包括铁电薄膜和纳米管，半导体和超导体纳米线，以及金属-分子-金属结。这些测量将提供对基本材料特性的深入了解，如尺度铁电薄膜中的畴壁运动和一维纳米结构中的电输运。低温探针系统也将在本科研究和实验室课程中产生更广泛的教育影响。几个新的实验模块将被纳入现有的本科和研究生物理和电气工程课程，以提供纳米材料和器件中物理效应的温度依赖测量的指导。

The Instrumentation for Materials Research (IMR) funding provided to this program will be used to purchase a Micromanipulated Cryogenic Probe Station. This instrument will facilitate temperature-dependent characterization of a variety of materials and devices being fabricated in the Penn State Materials Research Science and Engineering Center for Nanoscale Science including ferroelectric thin films and nanotubes, semiconductor and superconductor nanowires, and metal-molecule-metal junctions. These measurements will provide insight into fundamental materials properties such as domain wall motion in scaled ferroelectric thin films and electrical transport in one-dimensional nanostructures. This system offers advantages over conventional cryostats for these samples because it eliminates potentially damaging device packaging (i.e., dicing, mounting, and wire bonding) steps by incorporating six independently controlled micro-manipulated low-noise probes that are used to contact devices across a large sample diameter. In addition, the ability to probe multiple devices in a single cool down will make it easier to collect data on device-to-device variations, which have proven to be significant in many new nanoscale materials such as those described here. The cryogenic probe system will also have broader educational impact in undergraduate research and laboratory-based coursework. Several new laboratory modules will be incorporated into existing undergraduate and graduate physics and electrical engineering courses to provide instruction on temperature-dependent measurement of physical effects in nanoscale materials and devices.The Instrumentation for Materials Research (IMR) funding provided to this program will be used to purchase a Micromanipulated Cryogenic Probe Station. This instrument incorporates six independently controlled probes that are used to contact individual on-chip devices, which are maintained at temperatures between 4 and 300 K by a continuous flow liquid helium cryostat. The probe station will facilitate temperature-dependent characterization of a variety of new devices being fabricated in the Penn State Materials Research Science and Engineering Center for Nanoscale Science including ferroelectric thin films and nanotubes, semiconductor and superconductor nanowires, and metal-molecule-metal junctions. These measurements will provide insight into fundamental materials properties such as domain wall motion in scaled ferroelectric thin films and electrical transport in one-dimensional nanostructures. The cryogenic probe system will also have broader educational impact in undergraduate research and laboratory-based coursework. Several new laboratory modules will be incorporated into existing undergraduate and graduate physics and electrical engineering courses to provide instruction on temperature-dependent measurement of physical effects in nanoscale materials and devices.