Precision Dry Etching of 2D Materials: 2DETCH

2D 材料的精密干法蚀刻：2DETCH

• 批准号: EP/Z531121/1
• 负责人: Roman Gorbachev
• 金额: $ 113.25万
• 依托单位: University of Manchester
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2024 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=EP%2FZ531121%2F1
• 关键词: Precision; Dry; Etching; 2D; Materials

Scope: Nanotechnology lies at the heart of most modern technologies, from aerospace and automotive industries to optoelectronics through to surgical implants. Nanofabrication relies on a number of essential steps, including materials growth, device patterning and deposition of electrical contacts. In the last decade, 2D Materials (2DM) and their heterostructures have developed into a large multidisciplinary field. Their unique electronic, optical, mechanical and thermal properties have led to their use to demonstrate novel and improved performance in key areas of nanotechnology such as sustainable energy production and storage, sensors, low power electronics, communications and quantum technologies. Many billions of dollars are currently being invested in the EU, China, Korea and USA to scale up the infrastructure needed to transition 2DM technology to meet the demands of these applications.Vision: This proposal will provide a key experimental etching capability necessary to ensure that the UK remains a world leader in 2D materials nanofabrication. We propose to purchase a new state-of-the-art dry etching system, with capabilities to etch layers with atomic scale precision. This tool is one of the first commercial instruments allowing for atomic layer etching (ALE) and will enable controllable layer-by-layer 2D materials removal, currently not available anywhere in the UK. We will develop protocols and methodology to enable ALE functionality for key 2D materials and experimentally verify the results with a wide range of characterisation tools. The instrument will both provide new research capabilities and replace the current RIE system at National Graphene Institute which has reached the end of its life (15 years) to perform a broad range of already established tasks. The proposed instrument will be embedded in a world-leading centre of excellence for 2DM with dedicated staff support. It will be accessible to the whole UK 2D materials community through the Royce access scheme creating new opportunities for fundamental studies and supporting industrial development of 2D materials applications.The new etching platform will have the following key focus areas for 2DM applications:Low Power Electronics and Quantum Technologies: the new etcher will provide the ability to shape nanoscale devices with a high degree of tuneability but also at the wafer scale, with precise control of thicknesses, interfaces and electrical contacts.Sustainable Energy Generation and Storage: This facility will enable fabrication of model 2DM surfaces to generate new understanding of their function in electrodes and catalysis. It will also allow model nanoporous membranes to be synthesised and applied to generate new knowledge of their optimal geometries for fuel cells and in electrolysers.Biomolecular Sensors for Healthy Living: The proposed capability will advance creation of nanofluidic devices with angstrom-sized channels that enable unprecedented opportunities for nanoscale chemical sensing, molecular sieving and biomolecular analysis.To achieve this, the key objectives are:To develop and benchmark new world-leading capabilities for Atomic Layer Etching of 2DM.To successfully transition all current 2D etching to the new system, demonstrating equal or improved performance.To generate a suite of reliable protocols for different materials systems, providing improved efficiency by removing the current requirements to perform many repeat etchings simply to optimise fabrication conditions.Advertise the new capabilities to the whole UK 2D materials community, adding procedures if required in order to ensure broad usage of the system across the full range of application areas.

适用范围：纳米技术是大多数现代技术的核心，从航空航天和汽车工业到光电子到外科植入。纳米纤维依赖于许多基本步骤，包括材料生长、器件图案化和电接触的沉积。在过去的十年里，2D材料（2DM）及其异质结构已经发展成为一个庞大的多学科领域。其独特的电子，光学，机械和热性能使其在纳米技术的关键领域，如可持续能源生产和储存，传感器，低功率电子，通信和量子技术中表现出新颖和改进的性能。目前，欧盟、中国、韩国和美国正在投资数十亿美元，以扩大2DM技术过渡所需的基础设施，以满足这些应用的需求。愿景：该提案将提供关键的实验蚀刻能力，以确保英国在2D材料纳米制造领域保持世界领先地位。我们建议购买一个新的国家的最先进的干法蚀刻系统，具有能力蚀刻层与原子尺度的精度。该工具是第一个允许原子层蚀刻（ALE）的商业仪器之一，并将实现可控的逐层2D材料去除，目前在英国任何地方都不可用。我们将开发协议和方法，使ALE功能的关键二维材料和实验验证的结果与广泛的表征工具。该仪器将提供新的研究能力，并取代国家石墨烯研究所目前的RIE系统，该系统已达到其使用寿命（15年），可执行广泛的既定任务。拟议的仪器将嵌入一个世界领先的2DM卓越中心，并提供专门的工作人员支持。通过Royce访问计划，整个英国2D材料社区都可以访问该平台，为2D材料应用的基础研究和支持工业发展创造了新的机会。新的蚀刻平台将为2DM应用提供以下重点领域：低功率电子和量子技术：新的蚀刻器将提供形成具有高度可调谐性的纳米级器件的能力，而且在晶片级，具有精确的厚度控制，可持续能源生产和储存：该设施将使2DM模型表面的制造能够产生对其在电极和催化中的功能的新理解。它还将允许合成模型纳米多孔膜，并将其应用于燃料电池和电解槽的最佳几何形状的新知识。健康生活的生物分子传感器：拟议的能力将推动创建具有埃尺寸通道的纳米流体设备，为纳米级化学传感，分子筛和生物分子分析提供前所未有的机会。开发和测试2DM原子层蚀刻的新的世界领先能力。成功地将所有当前的2D蚀刻转换到新系统，展示同等或更高的性能。为不同的材料系统生成一套可靠的协议，通过去除电流要求以简单地执行许多重复蚀刻以优化制造条件来提供改进的效率。向整个英国2D材料社区提供新功能，并在必要时增加程序，以确保系统在所有应用领域的广泛使用。