Fullerene-based electronic thin-films and devices

作为一种自然存在的物质和新发现的碳的同素异构性，富勒烯是一种具有明确尺寸的拓扑结构完美的纳米结构。最丰富的纳米结构碳是C60，其中60个碳原子结合成一个球形球，通常被称为Bucky-ball。富勒烯这个名字是以美国建筑师R·巴克明斯特·富勒的名字创造的，他以许多基于五边形和六边形的创新建筑而闻名，五边形和六边形是各种形式纳米碳的完全相同的几何积木。C60的S物性及其潜在应用是近二十年来研究最多的课题之一。C60薄膜材料的高电子迁移率可能是最重要的物理特性，在场效应晶体管和太阳能电池、有机发光二极管等光电子器件中具有革命性的应用前景。碳纳米技术被许多人认为是超越硅技术的主要技术平台之一，硅技术正迅速接近许多基本极限。尽管富勒烯的研究已经取得了许多进展，特别是在开发各种形式的富勒烯衍生物用于化学和生物医学方面，但富勒烯固体薄膜材料的集体电子现象尚不清楚。这一直是富勒烯类电子和光电子器件开发和商业化的主要障碍。在这项申请中，卢振华教授提出了一个前沿研究计划，由五名精力充沛的研究生研究人员组成的团队参与，以攻克富勒烯薄膜和器件实际应用中的挑战。提出的研究课题包括：1)坚固的富勒烯基薄膜工程；2)表面和界面形成的控制策略；3)了解薄膜和异质结构中的电荷输运；4)富勒烯基薄膜晶体管的发展。

As a naturally occurring substance and a newly discovered allotropy of carbons, fullerenes are topologically perfect nanostructures with well-defined sizes. The most abundant nanostructured carbon is C60, where 60 carbon atoms are bonded into a spherical ball which is often referred to as bucky-ball. The name fullerenes, was coined after the American architect R. Buckminster Fuller who was known for his many innovative architectural constructions based on pentagons and hexagons, the very same geometric building blocks for various forms of nanocarbons. C60's physical properties and potential applications have been among the most studied subjects in the last two decades. High electron mobility of C60 thin-film materials is perhaps the most important physical properties promising revolutionary applications in electronic devices such as field-effect transistors and optoelectronic devices such as solar cells and organic light-emitting diodes. Carbon nanotechnology is considered by many as one of the major technology platform to surpass silicon technology which is rapidly approaching many fundamental limits. Despite many progresses have been made in fullerene research, in particular in developing many diverse forms of fullerene derivatives for chemical and biomedical applications, the collective electronic phenomena of solid fullerene thin-film materials are not clear. This has been a major barrier in developing and commercialization of fullerene-based electronic and optoelectronic devices. In this application, Prof. Z.H. Lu puts forward a leading edge research program, involving a team of five energetic graduate student researchers, to conquer the challenges in practical application of fullerene-based thin-films and devices. The proposed research topics are: 1) engineering of robust fullerene-based thin-films; 2) strategies in controlling surface and interface formation; 3) understanding charge transport in thin-films and heterostructures; and 4) development of fullerene-based thin-film transistors.