GOALI: Large Scale Synthesis and Manufacturing of Atomically Thin Polar Materials for Quantum Applications

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This Grant Opportunities for Academic Liaison with Industry (GOALI) award supports research that establishes new knowledge for the manufacturing of two-dimensional (2D) polar semiconductors, which are next-generation semiconducting materials for quantum information systems. Polar or Janus layered materials contain different atoms on each face and exhibit unusual electronic properties. Atomic layer deposition is one of the common methods used to grow ultra-thin layered materials. However, current manufacturing knowledge is limited in the precise control at atomic scales which is necessary to manufacture these quantum materials. This GOALI award brings together academia and industry partners to establish the foundations of atomic layer deposition-based manufacturing techniques to synthesize polar semiconductors with high structural, electronic, and optical quality. In the quantum age, this project has the potential to lead the manufacturing of quantum materials and systems that augments U.S. economic competitiveness globally. The educational and outreach plans focus on offering research and development opportunities at the intersection of manufacturing science, materials science, physics and chemistry to women and underrepresented minorities in the metropolitan area and beyond. The project offers capstone projects to undergraduate students and creates industry training opportunities.Recently discovered Janus two-dimensional (2D) materials exhibit broken mirror symmetry and colossal polarization fields leading to new quantum effects and functionalities that cannot be found in classical 2D systems. However, the manufacturing of these materials is very challenging since it requires atomically precise deposition of three different elements atom-by-atom in order to form chemically passivated van der Waals materials. This research aims to fill the fundamental knowledge gap in atomic layer deposition (ALD) for polar or Janus semiconductor materials by establishing ALD precursor chemistry and reaction kinetics to achieve high-quality 2D polar materials at wafer-scale. The research team, together with industry partners, plans to design, synthesize, engineer and test new types of ALD precursor species designed to deposit three different atoms and build a library of ultra-thin polar semiconductors. The project establishes the kinetics of ALD reaction and models it based on Johnson-Mehl-Avrami-Kolmogorov or Monte-Carlo simulations. The project tests the hypothesis that proper precursor chemistry, high enough ALD temperature, ideal pulse/purge times, and hydroxide-based surface chemistry can enable the manufacture of crystalline, excitonic and electronic grade polar semiconductors at wafer scales. Advanced characterization techniques are used to establish the process-structure-property-performance relations in these novel quantum materials. The overall results aim to give the researchers access to these completely new highly crystalline polar semiconductors that are not accessible with today's manufacturing methods.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.