Fundamentals and applications of quantum electronics: exploring an exotic quantum state in nanostructured materials and exploiting know how for new analytical chemical detectors

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My research focuses on electronics that contain nanostructured materials (NSMs) as critical elements. This is a highly interdisciplinary field, which involves: a) chemistry - synthesizing/assembling nanostructures, chemically functionalizing surfaces; b) physics - understanding charge transport in new NSM materials and implications for more traditional materials; and c) engineering - developing new electronic devices and applications. In view of its interdisciplinary nature, this area is relatively unexplored and offers significant new opportunities as described below. We have been making seminal contributions to this area and propose to build on these achievements as follows:******1. NSMs and quantum electron correlations: My group is pioneering the study of metal-insulator transition (MIT) in NSMs. In the last funding cycle, near MIT, we were the first to observe - in any NSM - an exotic quantum state with strongly correlated, delocalized electrons. Correlations are widely believed to be critical for high Tc superconductivity (cuprates), colossal magnetoresistivity (manganites), exotic superconductivity (fullerites, layered organic salts), and others. These phenomena (materials) are some of the most studied in history, and their understanding remains a quest in materials science.******Our observing correlated electrons in NSMs is a breakthrough given our control over NSMs. Here, we propose to incorporate NSMs into transistors, study relationships between NSM parameters and the correlated state, and engineer/study new NSM architectures. These studies will explore the origins of correlations, means to raise transition temperatures to which they survive, elucidate important excitations and their roles in electron delocalizaton, etc. These are important but still open questions. Such information can help better understand correlated materials generally and perhaps even point to new such materials. This would be very exciting given their great scientific and technological interest.******2. Microfabricated, nanogap sensor: In the last funding cycle, we developed a conductivity detector for solutions which proved suitable for commercial application. Building on this success, we also designed and microfabricated a silicon-based, nanogap device to sensitively monitor adsorption/desorption of molecules to/from its surface. The patented, novel design enables several features, including cost effectiveness, mechanical stability, label-free sensing and robust surface tunability via silanization. In the present funding cycle, I propose to functionalize the sensor's surface with various "receptors" and sense selective/specific "targets". These results have direct application to sense hazardous species in drinking/environmental water and various molecules for biomedical and drug discovery applications. ********