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

非技术描述：二维(2D)材料是由极薄的薄片(一个或几个原子厚度)组成的一类晶体材料，有可能制造出更小、更快的电子和光学设备。然而，由于现有的制备这种器件的方法不适合于2D材料，因此必须发现新的方法来促进它们容易地集成到器件构造中。该项目研究涂有聚合物的2D材料，这种材料可以极其精确地应用于操纵特定位置的物理和电子性能。这促进了在单片2D材料中廉价、大规模地制造电子和光学设备，使其能够应用于低功率、纳米级的电子和光学设备，包括可穿戴和可协调的设备。该项目包括为初中生和高中生提供暑期研究机会，以及在马萨诸塞州大学阿默斯特分校招募和指导未被充分代表的少数族裔学生，以及向马萨诸塞州西部的社区进行外联。美国和以色列的科学合作通过伙伴机构之间的研究生交流而得到加强。技术描述：利用2D材料用于光电子器件的一个主要挑战来自于对电荷载流子浓度(掺杂)进行精确控制的途径有限。该项目的重点是过渡金属二卤化物(TMDCs)，目标是通过新型界面化学来调节它们的光电性质，这种界面化学比TMDC本身的直接替代掺杂更容易实现和更稳健。一种理论-合成-表征一体化的方法促进了富含有机醇和偶极的功能聚合物的合理设计和应用，以实现对TMDCs的载流子掺杂、功函数和带隙的精确、空间定向控制。这一硬软2D材料平台使光电二极管、晶体管和反相器等光电子器件的制备成为可能，这些器件是数字电子的关键构建块，使用可扩展且与现有半导体技术兼容的方法在2D单层内制造。聚合物-TMDC半导体发展的根本性进展对光电子器件产生了深远的影响，使计算、数据存储和消费电子领域的技术成为可能。该研究项目与为少数族裔服务机构的本科生以及当地初中生提供的暑期研究机会相结合，从而培养了下一代材料科学家和工程师。研究人员还在马萨诸塞州西部向更广泛的公众发表非正式演讲，以激发人们对新兴的2D材料领域的兴趣。美国和以色列的科学合作通过合作机构之间的研究生交流而得到加强。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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.