Multifunctionality at the Nanoscale

我研究的主要目标是了解控制低维材料中不同性质之间共存和相互作用的基本原理，这些性质通常被认为是相互排斥的。在纳米尺度上同时控制和操纵多种功能相关特性可能会导致节能信息技术、固态照明、光子学和催化的全新方法。该提案特别强调了多功能对新可持续技术的重要性，并为加拿大带来长期利益。我的研究项目是跨学科的，结合了合成、光谱、结构、物理和理论方法。在设计的项目中，我们研究了纳米结构尺寸、组成、相变、天然缺陷形成和分子功能化在提高纳米尺度固有自由度方面的作用。这些项目和与提案有关的未来活动可分为两个主要方向：

The main goal of my research is to understand the fundamental principles governing the coexistence of and interactions between different properties in low-dimensional materials, which are often considered to be mutually exclusive. Simultaneous control and manipulation of multiple functionally-relevant properties at the nanoscale could lead to radically new approaches to energy-efficient information technologies, solid-state lighting, photonics, and catalysis. This proposal specifically addresses the importance of multifunctionality for new sustainable technologies with long-term benefits to Canada. My research program is interdisciplinary in nature and uses a combination of synthetic, spectroscopic, structural, physical, and theoretical methods. Within the designed projects we study the role of nanostructure size, composition, phase transformation, native defects formation, and molecular functionalization in enhancing the inherent degrees of freedom at the nanoscale. These projects and the future activities related to the proposal can be classified in two major directions: • Energy-Efficient Solid State Lighting and Photonic Technologies. Expanding on my work on functional defect formation and interaction in transparent metal oxide nanocrystals, the goal of this part of my research program is to explore different ways of expanding and manipulating the electronic structure and optical properties of native defect states. As a notable example, we prepared a new class of colloidal hybrid organic-inorganic quasi-single white light emitting nanostructures (NanoLite), which has paved the way to a new approach to solid-state lighting without the need for strategically important rare earth elements. • Energy-Efficient Information Technologies. The goal of this set of projects is to investigate the correlations between electrical, magnetic, and optical properties of nanomaterials for energy-efficient and non-volatile information processing, transmittal and storage. The systems of interest include magnetic semiconductor, emerging oxide plasmonic, and multiferroic nanostructures. The implementation of multifunctional nanoscale devices rests upon our understanding of the structure-property and property-property correlations in nanomaterials. The project activities will explore complementary approaches to multifunctionality: internal (i.e. impurity-induced) and external (i.e. via heterostructure or composite formation).