2-Dimensional Materials and Atomic Scale Engineering for Nanoelectronics

电子产品的未来问题迫在眉睫。摩尔定律描述了半导体行业半个世纪以来的进步。摩尔定律是1965年关于缩小晶体管的经济性的先见之明的预测。硅的无处不在的扩散不仅将随着每一代晶体管的出现而继续下去，而且晶体管本身也将达到接近原子规模的尺寸。电子学能否得出这种比例的合乎逻辑的结论，即晶体管是由由单原子单层组成的二维材料组成的？Szkopek的研究计划通过三个主要研究主题解决了这一挑战： 1)合成和表征2D原子晶体--2010年诺贝尔物理学奖的主题是石墨烯，它只是由单层原子构成的全新材料类别的第一个成员。Szkopek将致力于2D晶体的基础和应用研究，目的是开发新的电子设备，利用与2D材料相关的独特性能组合。 2)开发半导体自旋冷却-利用Szkopek和合作者Gervais(McGill)发现的一种新的冷却技术，将为利基低噪音电子产品和基于低维半导体的新兴量子技术开发没有移动部件的固态冰箱。 3)开发石墨烯机电系统-可以利用石墨烯薄膜独特的电气和机械性能来提高数字开关等机电设备的性能。电子线路中这类开关的能耗和开关速度的物理极限是多少？

The question of the future of electronics looms large. Moore's Law, a prescient prediction from 1965 about the economics of making transistors smaller, has described the progress of the semiconductor industry for a half-century. Not only will the ubiquitous spread of silicon continue with every successive generation of transistors, but transistors themselves will reach dimensions approaching the atomic scale. Can electronics be taken to the logical conclusion of this scaling, where transistors are formed of 2-dimensional materials composed of single atomic monolayers? Szkopek's research plan addresses this challenge through three major research themes: 1) Synthesize and characterize 2D atomic crystals - Graphene, the subject of the 2010 Nobel Prize in physics, is but the first member of the entirely new class of materials that are single layers of atoms. Szkopek will work on fundamental and applied studies of 2D crystals, with the aim of developing new electronic devices that take advantage of the unique combinations of properties associated with 2D materials. 2) Develop semiconductor spin cooling - Exploiting a new cooling technique discovered by Szkopek and collaborator Gervais (McGill), solid state refrigerators with no moving parts will be developed for niche low-noise electronics and for emerging quantum technologies based on low-dimensional semiconductors. 3) Develop graphene electro-mechanical systems - The unique electrical and mechanical properties of graphene membranes can be exploited to enhance the performance of electromechanical devices such as digital switches. What is the physical limit of energy consumption and switching speed for such switches in electronic circuits?