CAREER: Understanding polar surfaces and interfaces using ultra-high resolution electron microscopy and spectroscopy

职业：使用超高分辨率电子显微镜和光谱学了解极性表面和界面

• 批准号: 1350273
• 负责人: James LeBeau
• 金额: $ 50万
• 依托单位: North Carolina State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2014-08-01 至 2020-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1350273&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: CAREER; Understanding; polar; surfaces; interfaces

NON-TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION: This CAREER award supports an integrated research and education effort that advances the understanding of material interfaces essential to enable next generation electronics. Formation of interfaces between certain dissimilar materials results in unique properties that lead to new electronic device functionality. The detailed arrangement and bonding of atoms at these interfaces is intimately linked to the observed behavior. Recent advancements in electron microscopy have enabled the investigation of these arrangements at an incredible level. This project employs these state-of-the-art electron microscopy methods to directly study the interface structure and bonding to offer a fresh perspective on these phenomena, providing input to validate theoretical models. To drive student passion in science and engineering, the project is coupled to a variety of targeted educational programs. Undergraduate students directly contribute to the project by building computer programs that facilitate new approaches to microscopy education. Moreover, because traditional approaches to bring new students into science have only been partially successful, the centerpiece of the educational outreach program stimulates interest in science through the combination of microscopy with the visual arts. For the broadest impact among young students and the general public, this exhibit is distributed through connections with a local museum and the NSF Nanoscale Informational Science Education network. This project stands to increase the U.S. innovation and economic competitiveness in the area of electroceramics and through advances in characterization techniques.TECHNICAL DETAILS: This CAREER award addresses the fundamental nature of structural and electronic reconstructions at the interface between distinctly different polar materials and their surfaces. In particular, rock salt oxides are combined with wurtzite nitrides to explore the details of charge compensation mechanisms at heterogeneous polar interfaces. The influence of strain and defects on the electronic and atomic structure at the interface is examined with state-of-the-art electron microscopy tools. Moreover, in situ electron microscopy is used to study the stability and structure of the rock salt oxides to provide critical input relevant to growth, integration, and control of this class of materials. Simultaneously, electron microscopy capabilities are being developed to fully extract the detailed atomic/electronic structure and chemistry at the polar interfaces. The results also guide and validate modeling from ab-initio calculations that lead to transformational understanding of unique behaviors. Broader impacts and educational outreach are integral to this effort. Students at the graduate level become skilled experts of ultra-high resolution electron microscopy and spectroscopy using state-of-the-art instrumentation. Undergraduate students participate through a programming project to develop a 'digital' microscope to transform microscopy education in the age of aberration correction. Working with local museums and schools, an exhibit communicates advanced electron microscopy and materials science research through the universal medium of art, highlighting the inherent beauty of atomic structure symmetries.

非技术描述：该职业奖项支持一项综合研究和教育努力，以促进对材料界面的理解，材料界面是实现下一代电子产品所必需的。某些不同材料之间界面的形成会产生独特的性质，从而产生新的电子设备功能。原子在这些界面上的详细排列和成键与观察到的行为密切相关。电子显微镜的最新进展使得对这些排列的研究达到了令人难以置信的水平。该项目利用这些最先进的电子显微镜方法直接研究界面结构和成键，为这些现象提供了一个新的视角，为验证理论模型提供了输入。为了激发学生对科学和工程的热情，该项目与各种有针对性的教育项目相结合。本科生通过开发计算机程序直接为该项目做出贡献，这些程序促进了显微镜教育的新方法。此外，由于将新学生带入科学领域的传统方法只取得了部分成功，教育推广计划的核心是通过将显微镜与视觉艺术相结合来激发人们对科学的兴趣。为了在年轻学生和普通公众中产生最广泛的影响，该展览通过与当地博物馆和NSF纳米级信息科学教育网络的联系进行分发。该项目旨在提高美国在电陶瓷领域的创新和经济竞争力，并通过表征技术的进步。技术细节：该职业奖致力于在截然不同的不同极性材料及其表面之间的界面上进行结构和电子重建的基本性质。特别是，将岩盐氧化物与纤锌矿氮化物结合起来，探索了多相极性界面上电荷补偿机制的细节。用最先进的电子显微镜分析了应变和缺陷对界面电子结构和原子结构的影响。此外，利用原位电子显微镜研究了岩盐氧化物的稳定性和结构，以提供与这类材料的生长、集成和控制相关的关键输入。同时，正在开发电子显微镜能力，以充分提取极性界面的详细原子/电子结构和化学成分。这些结果还指导和验证了从头计算中的建模，这些计算导致了对独特行为的变革性理解。更广泛的影响和教育宣传是这一努力不可或缺的部分。研究生水平的学生成为使用最先进的仪器的超高分辨率电子显微镜和光谱学的熟练专家。本科生通过一个开发数字显微镜的编程项目来参与，以改变像差矫正时代的显微镜教育。与当地博物馆和学校合作，一个展览通过通用的艺术媒介交流先进的电子显微镜和材料科学研究，突出原子结构对称性的内在美。