Collaborative Research: IRES Track I: US/France Multidisciplinary Collaboration in Nanoelectronics, Quantum Materials and Next-Generation Computing

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This IRES project involves a research and educational collaboration between University of California, San Diego (UCSD) and New York University (NYU) in the US with International Partner Institutions Université de Lorraine and Université Paris-Saclay in France. The project will address societal needs and key technological barriers to next generation computation and data storage by training US students to address these challenges. A goal is to broadly educate diverse, globally engaged, and talented young scientists and engineers in modern materials and devices for advanced computing. This will be accomplished by having them study and conduct research in forefront areas of nano-systems and quantum materials that can enable a new generation of computers during research internships in France. The topics are at the heart of research on new low-power computing needs for our current data-centered society. In the project, the student researchers will be exposed to a wide range of scientific and engineering challenges and be trained to work effectively across disciplines.This IRES project will engage 9 students per year in research internships, which are typically 8 weeks-long. The proposed student population will be 3 undergraduate and 2 graduate researchers per year from UCSD and 2 undergraduate and 2 graduate researchers per year from NYU. The intellectual merit of this materials-centered multidisciplinary research is based on exploiting the unique properties of quantum materials to address fundamental problems associated with creating new types of non-volatile memories and advancing next generation computing. Specific research and education activities will focus on the fabrication and advanced characterization of new quantum materials, integration of these materials into prototype devices, device testing, and advanced modeling. The results will be the input to theory and modeling of scaling up memory-based brain-inspired computer architectures. The research goals will be on understanding and control of novel materials, which will have broad ranging impact from understanding the performance of current devices, to assessing the potential of next generation energy efficient, ultrafast, and ultra-small memory devices. Thus the work will provide input to the modeling and design of mem-computing networks and architectures. The integration of research and education will be achieved via several mechanisms including research activities at world-class international laboratories, participation of students in summer schools, presentation of their research at international and university conferences, and continued research opportunities at their home institutions. These efforts are aimed at strengthening the pipeline of students, including minority and women students, into STEM with a focus on nanotechnologies.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.