I-Corps: Universal Biaxial Compressive Strain Measurement System

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To increase device performance, most materials are often subjected to uniaxial and biaxial states of stress. The material under these types of loadings must be well controlled to achieve the desired gain. Currently, uniaxial compression is considered the easiest method for achieving strain in electronic materials, and widely used in manufacturing advanced semiconductor chips. However, uniaxial strain is limited in its effectiveness in tailoring material properties compared to biaxial strain, hence, its future prospects are restricted. Biaxial stress-strain tests are generally difficult to perform. Some of the challenges include: small sample sizes; grip integrity to the substrate; and deformation homogeneity within the substrate. This effort aims to develop a prototype compressive biaxial strain chamber which can cater to customers who need a reliable biaxial strain measurement system without the limitations of the aforementioned issues that exist in current systems in the market. The proposed project is aimed at advancing the performance of electronic materials used in the semiconductor industry. In particular, those who are seeking to increase device performance, and are looking beyond post-uniaxial solutions for increased efficiency. There are three phases that materials can be categorized into are metals, semiconductors, and insulators. Although, it is expected that these materials would maintain their electrical properties, when compressive strain is applied, the material's conductive properties can be tuned. This modulation of the electronic material properties with strain is known as strain engineering. This I-Corps team proposes that using the biaxial strain system, one can increase device performance not only for silicon based electronics, but also for next-generation nanoscale electronics based on graphene and other two-dimensional materials. In this project, the team will use the biaxial testing setup to measure the strain and pressure-dependent electronic, vibrational, optical and structural properties of multilayered molybdenum disulphide and other 2D materials up to high strain rates (10%).