MRI: Acquisition of Instrumentation for the Production and Characterization of Epitaxial Graphite on Silicon Carbide

该奖项是为了收购用于生产和表征外延石墨（EG，“外延石墨烯”）薄膜的仪器。这种材料对于由格鲁吉亚理工学院（GIT）的研究人员领导的纳米图案外延石墨烯（NPEG）项目至关重要。NPEG项目是一个多学科研究计划，旨在探索在单晶SiC芯片上生长的EG和NPEG的特性。与纳米管不同，无缝互连的功能性NPEG器件可以通过平面EG衬底的合理图案化来制造，从而避免了对晶片上的金属互连的需要。因此，石墨纳米电子学的NPEG方法可以消除碳纳米管面临的许多障碍，同时保留了高载流子迁移率和准一维输运的优点，参与NPEG项目的积极推广计划--以及由仪器设备提供的便利--包括格鲁吉亚教师实习奖学金计划（K-12教师）和GIT科学学院教师发展计划（来自非研究机构的教师，代表性不足的群体比例通常很高）。该计划还将涉及通过NSF-REU计划，包括在西格鲁吉亚的州立大学教师指导的本科生研究计划的本科生。此外，通过参与GIT纳米科学与技术（NaST）证书计划，PI和参与教师将直接将最近的研究成果注入专业研究生和本科课程。

This award is for the acquisition of instrumentation for the production and characterization of ultrathin films of epitaxial graphite (EG, "epitaxial graphene"). This material is essential for the nanopatterned epitaxial graphene (NPEG) project, led by researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology (GIT). The NPEG project is a multidisciplinary research program to explore the properties of EG and NPEG grown on chips of single crystal SiC. Unlike nanotubes, seamlessly-interconnected, functional NPEG devices could be fabricated via rational patterning of a planar EG substrate, obviating the need for metal interconnects on the wafer. Thus, the NPEG approach to graphitic nanoelectronics could remove many of the obstacles faced by carbon nanotubes, while retaining the benefits of high carrier mobility and quasi-1D transport.Active outreach programs involved in the NPEG project - and facilitated by the instrumentation - include the Georgia Intern-Fellowships for Teachers program (K-12 teachers) and the GIT College of Sciences Faculty Development Program (faculty from non-research institutions, with typically high proportions of underrepresented groups). The program also will involve undergraduate students through the NSF-REU program, including a faculty-directed undergraduate research program at the State University of West Georgia. Also, through participation in the GIT NanoScience and Technology (NaST) certificate program, PIs and participating faculty will inject recent research results directly into specialized graduate and undergraduate courses.