Development of a Novel Charge Accumulation THz Spectroscopy System Operating in an Inert Atmosphere

了解有机半导体(OS)中的电荷输运并不是一件容易的事情，因为这个过程是由电声子耦合控制的，电声子耦合指的是电子和声子之间的相互作用强度(即集体分子振动)。与晶体硅不同，OS中分子间相互作用的弱非共价性质不允许用离域Bloch波来描述电子和空穴。此外，目前还没有关于所谓带状输运的清晰图像，部分原因是电子-声子相互作用很难在实验上进行探测。然而，虽然拉曼光谱或中子散射等技术可以提供声子/振动模式的详细映射，但它们无法探测自由电荷与声子模式的相互作用。*为了填补这一重大空白，我们请求购买定制的设备，将光纤耦合THz系统与手套盒结合在一起，这将使我们能够开创一种新型的光谱学--电荷累积THz光谱学(CATS)，它将首次在分子材料中原位测量电子-声子相互作用。INRS-EMT和蒙特利尔地区的几个研究小组已表示有兴趣利用这一工具进行建议的研究。这种新的光谱技术(CATS)有望代表材料科学和合成化学的重大进步，因为它可以清楚地指示哪些(分子)材料最适合用于电子学。*通过关联在无电荷和有电荷情况下收集的光谱特征，我们可以有效地筛选给定的有机分子设计(在OS的情况下)是否适合电子学。在短期内，CAT可以扩展到其他材料，如有机卤化物钙钛矿或量子点，这些材料在太赫兹范围内有很强的声子响应。从长远来看，所产生的知识可以支持未来采用CATS作为电子材料的常规筛选工具。*申请者良好的记录和互补的专业知识将确保拟议研究的生产性管理和整体成功。此外，鉴于所要求的工具包的多用途和多功能性，它的使用将使至少7个其他研究小组能够培训HQP，这将使总共约50名博士生、20名博士后研究员(PDF)、20名硕士研究生。学生，也将提供给暑期学生。由于CATS是一项将在INRS-EMT开发的新颖而强大的技术，因此它具有巨大的潜力，可以为所有在该设备上培训的HQP提供适销对路的技能。所要求的设备还将为与行业和大学的广泛合作打开机会，从而通过将学生暴露在工业工作环境中并允许他们与加拿大和其他地方的主要参与者互动来加强学生的培训。

Understanding charge transport in organic semiconductors (OS) is not trivial as this process is governed by electronphonon coupling, which refers to the interaction strength between electrons and phonons (i.e. collective molecular vibrations). Unlike in crystalline silicon, the weak non-covalent nature of the intermolecular interactions in OS does not allow to describe electrons and holes in terms of delocalized Bloch waves. Further, a clear picture of the so-called band-like transport is currently missing, partially because electron-phonon interactions are very hard to probe experimentally. However, while techniques such as Raman spectroscopy or neutron scattering could provide a detailed mapping of the phonon/vibrational modes, they fail in probing the interactions of free charges with the phonon modes. ******To fill this major gap, we request the purchase of a customized equipment, a fiber-coupled THz system to be combined with a glovebox, that will allow to pioneer a novel type of spectroscopy, Charge Accumulation THz spectroscopy (CATS), which for the first time will measure in situ electron-phonon interactions in molecular materials. Several research groups at INRS-EMT and in the Montreal area have expressed their interest in exploiting this tool to perform the suggested research. Such novel spectroscopic technique (CATS) promises to represent a major advance in Materials Science and Synthetic Chemistry, as it could give a clear indication of which (molecular) materials are best suited for applications in electronics.***By correlating the collected spectral features in absence and in presence of charges, we could make an efficient screening of the suitability of a given organic molecular design (in the case of OS) for electronics. In the short term, CATS could be extended to other materials such as organic-halide perovskites or quantum dots, which have strong phononic response in the THz range. In the long term, the generated knowledge could support future adoption of CATS as a routine screening tool of materials for electronics.******The strong track records and complementary expertise of the applicants will ensure the productive management and overall success of the proposed research. Furthermore, given the multi-purpose and versatile nature of the requested toolkit, its use will allow to train HQP in at least 7 other research teams, which would make a total of ca. 50 Ph.D. students, 20 post-doctoral fellows (PDFs), 20 M.Sc. students, and will be also available to summer students. Since CATS is a novel and powerful technique that will be developed at INRS-EMT, it has a huge potential to provide marketable skills for all HQP trained on the equipment. The requested equipment will also open up opportunities for broad collaborations with industries and universities and thus enhance the students' training by exposing them to industrial working environments and allowing them to interact with key players in Canada and elsewhere.**