DCL:HBCU:EAGER: Development of Wafer-Scale Fabrication of Carbon-Based Integrated Electronic Devices

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DCL:HBCU:EAGER: Development of Wafer-Scale Fabrication of Carbon-Based Integrated Electronic DevicesXiao, ZhigangCarbon nanotubes and graphene are promising electronic nanomaterials and could be used for the application of future electronics because of their superior electrical property. In this project, devices using carbon nanotubes will be made with enhanced electrical properties. The innovative research will result in streamlining and enhancing current manufacturing processes for these devices. This will enable the development of improved integrated circuits and devices for electronics. Semiconductor devices represent a multi-trillion dollar industry. The novel devices developed through this project could contribute to the rapidly growing industries of semiconductor and nano-manufacturing. Thus, if successful, this project could have great impacts on US and global societies, and provide many societal benefits. The primary educational goal of this proposal is to integrate the research objectives to enhance the educational experiences of students. Graduate and undergraduate students will be mentored to perform research in nanofabrication in the project. The proposed project will also offer summer research opportunities for high school students. It will significantly increase opportunities for minority students to perform research and to be trained in nanotechnologyThe objective of this research is to develop wafer-scale fabrication of carbon-based integrated electronic devices. A major problem in the realization of carbon nanotube devices is the difficulty to position and assemble carbon nanotubes in a controlled way. In this Early Grant for Exploratory Research (EAGER) project, an unconventional approach, based on the electric field directed dielectrophoresis method is used to deposit and align ultra-dense carbon nanotubes. The poor yield of functional devices is another major problem, because currently there is no effective way to separate the metallic carbon nanotubes from the semiconducting tubes, and the metallic tubes unavoidably exist in fabricated transistors, resulting in poor electrical properties. In this project, semiconductor materials are proposed to replace metals as the source/drain contacts for solving the problem of poor yield. Another major research effort in this project is to use electrical fields together with nanoscale electrodes to grow nanostructured carbon thin films and graphene using the e-beam/thermal evaporation. The proposed approach could achieve the wafer-scale fabrication of graphene devices. Intellectual Merit: This project is potentially transformative, and could create a new wafer-scale carbon-based device fabrication paradigm. It will greatly benefit the research community and semiconductor industry by providing new approaches for the fabrication of carbon integrated devices. The innovative dielectrophoresis method could effectively align and deposit ultra-dense carbon nanotubes while the semiconductor contact could greatly improve the electrical properties of fabricated devices, significantly increasing the yield of functional devices. The electrical field-directed innovative growth of nanostructured carbon thin films and graphene, while untested, is novel and unexplored, and could lead to wafter-scale fabrication of graphene devices. This EAGER project could lead to the realization of wafer-scale fabrication of carbon nanotube and graphene integrated devices for the application of future nanoelectronics.