Domain Wall Engineering for Novel Nanoelectronics

非技术描述：该项目为信息技术的新型电子设备的开发提供了科学依据。该项目利用各种显微镜技术来研究原子结构与结构边界的电气特性之间的关系，这些结构边界将具有不同电极化方向的区域（域）分开。本研究的主要目标是实现新型材料的电性能决定的域边界，而不是域本身，和潜在的应用在新型的计算机存储设备。该项目非常重视材料科学，纳米结构制造和显微镜表征。该项目为本科生和研究生提供了新的培训机会，沿着针对K-12学生、教师、少数民族和代表性不足群体的各种外联活动。技术说明：铁性材料中的畴界，具有各种序参数，提供了一种可能性，即利用不同于散装材料的状态变量的概念新颖的器件。在逐渐缩小的器件中，畴壁的作用越来越大，这就需要开发新的方法来主动控制畴壁的行为，并对其性质进行彻底的研究。该项目的重点是在基础水平上研究畴壁的功能和结构特性之间的相互作用，以及通过正确组合制造，高分辨率结构表征和电气测试方法在新型电子器件中的后续应用。该项目涉及：（1）制作独立的单晶铁电介观薄片和薄膜的横截面样品，（2）通过扫描探针显微镜（SPM）技术控制畴壁的操纵和测试它们的输运性质，和（3）畴壁的高分辨率电子显微镜结构表征。这项研究有助于基于畴壁的新型纳米电子器件的技术发展，并为研究生和年轻研究人员在文化多样性环境中的纳米技术先进领域提供教育和研究培训的可能性。

Non-technical Description: This project provides a scientific basis for the development of novel electronic devices for information technology. The project utilizes a variety of microscopy techniques to investigate the relation between the atomic structure and electrical characteristics of the structural boundaries that separate regions with different orientations of electrical polarization (domains). The main goal of this study is to realize new type of materials with electrical properties determined by the domain boundaries, rather than the domains themselves, and potential applications in new types of computer memory devices. The project puts a strong emphasis on materials science, nanostructure fabrication and microscopy characterization. This project offers new training opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students, along with various outreach activities targeting K-12 students, teachers, minorities and underrepresented groups.Technical Description: Domain boundaries in ferroic materials, with various order parameters at play, offer a possibility of conceptually novel devices utilizing state variables different from those of the bulk materials. The growing role of domain walls in progressively shrinking devices necessitates the development of new approaches for active control of domain wall behavior and thorough investigation of their properties. This project focuses on investigation of the interplay between the functional and structural properties of the domain walls at a fundamental level and their subsequent use in novel electronic devices through the right combination of fabrication, high-resolution structural characterization and electrical testing methods. This project involves: (1) fabrication of free-standing single-crystalline ferroelectric mesoscale lamellae and cross-sectional samples of thin films, (2) controlled manipulation of the domain walls and testing of their transport properties by means of scanning probe microscopy (SPM) techniques, and (3) high-resolution electron microscopy structural characterization of domain walls. This research contributes to the technological development of novel nanoelectronic devices based on the domain walls and provides education and research training possibilities for graduate students and young researchers in advanced areas of nanotechnology in culturally diverse environment.