NSF-BSF: The Hard-Soft Interface -- Integrating 2D Semiconductors with Functional Polymers for Nanoscale Optoelectronics

非技术描述：二维（2D）材料是一类由极薄的薄片（厚度为一个或几个原子）组成的晶体材料，具有制造更小、更快的电子和光学器件的潜力。然而，由于现有的制备这种器件的方法不适合2D材料，因此必须发现新的方法，使其易于集成到器件结构中。该项目研究的是涂有聚合物的二维材料，这种材料可以非常精确地控制特定位置的物理和电子特性。这促进了在单片2D材料中廉价、大规模地制造电子和光学器件，使低功耗、纳米级电子和光学器件，包括可穿戴和符合要求的器件的应用成为可能。该项目包括为中学生和高中生提供夏季研究机会，以及在马萨诸塞大学阿默斯特分校招募和指导代表性不足的少数民族学生，并向马萨诸塞州西部的社区提供服务。通过伙伴机构之间的研究生交流，美以科学合作得到加强。技术描述：利用二维材料用于光电子器件的主要挑战来自于对电荷载流子浓度（掺杂）进行精确控制的有限途径。该项目重点研究Mo和W过渡金属二硫族化合物（TMDCs），目的是通过新的界面化学物质来调制它们的光电特性，这种化学物质比直接取代TMDC本身更简单、更容易实现。综合理论-合成-表征方法有助于合理设计和应用富含有机乙醇和偶极子的功能聚合物，以精确地、有空间针对性地控制载流子掺杂、功函数和TMDCs的带隙。这种硬-软的二维材料平台可以制备光电器件，如光电二极管、晶体管和逆变器——数字电子学的关键组成部分——使用可扩展且与现有半导体技术兼容的方法在二维单层内制造。聚合物- tmdc半导体发展的基本进展对光电器件、计算、数据存储和消费电子领域的使能技术产生了深远的影响。该研究项目与来自少数民族服务机构的本科生以及当地中学生的形成性暑期研究机会相结合，从而培养下一代材料科学家和工程师。研究人员还向马萨诸塞州西部的广大公众提供非正式讲座，以激发人们对新兴的二维材料领域的兴趣。通过伙伴机构之间的研究生交流，美以科学合作得到加强。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Nontechnical description: Two-dimensional (2D) materials are a class of crystalline materials composed of extremely thin sheets (one or a few atoms in thickness) with the potential to create smaller and faster electronic and optical devices. However, since existing methods for preparing such devices are not suitable for 2D materials, new approaches must be discovered that promote their easy integration into device constructs. This project studies 2D materials that are coated with polymers, which can be applied with extreme precision to manipulate the physical and electronic properties at specific locations. This promotes inexpensive, large-scale fabrication of electronic and optical devices within single sheets of 2D materials, enabling applications in low-power, nanoscale electronic and optical devices, including wearable and conformable devices. This project includes summer research opportunities for middle and high school students as well as recruitment and mentoring of underrepresented minority students at UMass Amherst, and outreach to the community in Western Massachusetts. US-Israel scientific collaborations are enhanced by graduate students exchanges between partner institutions.Technical Description: A major challenge in harnessing 2D materials for optoelectronic devices arises from limited avenues for exercising precise control over charge carrier concentrations (doping). This project focuses on Mo and W transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) with the goal of modulating their optoelectronic properties through novel interfacial chemistries that are more straightforward and robust to implement than direct substitutional doping of the TMDC itself. An integrated theory-synthesis-characterization approach facilitates rational design and application of organochalcogen- and dipole-rich functional polymers for precise, spatially-targeted control over carrier doping, work functions, and band gaps of TMDCs. This hard-soft, 2D materials platform, enables the preparation of optoelectronic devices such as photodiodes, transistors, and inverters - key building blocks of digital electronics - fabricated within 2D monolayers using methods that are scalable and compatible with existing semiconductor technology. Fundamental advances in the development of polymer-TMDC semiconductors project far-reaching impact on optoelectronic devices, enabling technologies in computing, data storage, and consumer electronics. The research program is integrated with formative summer research opportunities for undergraduates from minority-serving institutions, as well as local middle- and high-school students, thereby nurturing the next generation of materials scientists and engineers. Researchers also deliver informal lectures to the broader public in Western Massachusetts to kindle interest in the emerging field of 2D materials. US-Israel scientific collaborations are enhanced by graduate students exchanges between partner institutions.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.