Collaborative Research: Scalable Nanomanufacturing Platform for Area-Selective Atomic Layer Deposition of Components for Ultra-Efficient Functional Devices

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The total energy consumption by opto-electronic devices is predicted to surpass the global energy production by the year 2040 unless radical changes are made in their design and manufacturing and large improvements in their performance. This grant supports research that helps to alleviate this challenge by pioneering an innovative manufacturing approach that enables novel and highly efficient three-dimensional chip designs that do not rely on unsustainable miniaturization of the traditional chip architectures. Such three-dimensional architectures are only accessible via new bottom-up manufacturing processes that build and assemble devices in an additive manner via atomically precise and self-aligned positioning of the device components. Current top-down manufacturing does not leverage energy-efficient chemical processes that can significantly reduce manufacturing energy requirements, nor does it benefit from spontaneous molecular and atomic self-organization phenomena that can reduce the size of the chip components. The goal of this research is to develop a continuous, energy-efficient manufacturing platform for bottom-up deposition and high-resolution patterning of opto-electronic device components. The project impacts a broad range of research fields, including electronics, sensing, catalysis, and optical technology as well as training of the future manufacturing workforce. The results of this research positively impact the U.S. economy and society, delivering significant value and growth potential.The key technologies for enabling atomically precise, bottom-up manufacturing of ultra-efficient electronic, photonic and quantum devices depend on area-selective methods for atomic layer deposition and atomic layer etching. This research addresses the main challenges that preclude widespread implementation of these techniques by integrating universal resist materials, in-situ resist regeneration, and universal photo-initiated resist patterning into a single and continuous manufacturing process that is compatible with a variety of substrates and chemistries without significant optimization. Current area-selective atomic layer deposition relies on resist materials and patterning methods that are highly substrate dependent. The hypothesis is that interactions between atomic layer deposition reagents and resists can essentially be independent from the substrate structure and chemistry. This paradigm fundamentally changes the technological approach by generating the resists using universal small-molecule meta-stable species, such as carbenes and nitrenes, instead of substrate-specific resists that are currently being used. The high reactivity of these species overcomes the diffusion problems with resist deposition and regeneration, is applicable to a variety of materials, is useful within a wide range of conditions, and is easily reproduced, as the chemical processes are quantifiable and scalable. Moreover, such small molecule resists are amenable to universal photo-initiated patterning steps that can be performed in-situ.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.