Defect engineering of quantum devices

我的研究提高了制造、操纵、测量和理解纳米尺寸的材料和结构的能力。由于量子力学的影响，当我们将材料的尺寸降低到纳米范围时，材料的性质会发生变化，这为我们创造利用量子现象的材料和器件提供了机会。一个著名的例子是USB记忆棒，它利用量子隧道来保留存储电子形式的信息。纳米技术也给能够操纵和测量微小尺寸材料的仪器带来了新的挑战。在过去的十年里，纳米材料科学发展迅速，在通信、环境、医学和可穿戴技术等各个领域都出现了许多新的应用。 我的研究涉及直径几纳米的硅量子点(QD)的制造和表征，目标有两个：(I)创造实用的硅基发光器件，与半导体行业的加工技术、材料和环境限制相兼容，(Ii)增进我们对它们生长的物理过程和它们如何发光的理解。实现这些目标将为加拿大工业在新兴的光通信和计算领域提供新的机会。 在用来解决限制量子技术商业使用的关键材料问题的技术中，正电子湮灭技术使用正电子(电子的反粒子)作为探测器来探测微小的缺陷，这些缺陷可以深刻地改变材料的性质。CFI资助的麦克马斯特强流正电子束设备的建设接近完成，这是一个基于核反应堆的正电子系统。我在西安大略大学的实验室已经开发了一个最先进的实验室，旨在利用新的BEAM设备，它将提供测量缺陷的新能力，并将有助于新材料和设备的开发。利用这种设备的独特能力，我建议提供对缺陷行为的洞察，这些缺陷可以在下一代电子和光电设备中被利用。这项研究将有助于理解缺陷对电子器件性能的不利影响，并有助于开发材料的纳米级操纵技术。 该研究计划旨在为研究生和本科生提供一些原创性的端到端研究项目。在研究过程中，学生将获得在高科技行业使用的各种技术的经验，并为在工业或大学中成功就业做好准备。

My research advances the ability to make, manipulate, measure, and understand materials and structures with nanometre dimensions. Due to the influence of quantum mechanics, properties of materials change when we reduce their dimensions to the nanometre range, which provides us opportunities to create materials and devices that make use of quantum phenomena. A well-known example is the USB memory stick, which makes use of quantum tunneling to retain information in the form of stored electrons. Nanotechnology also brings new challenges for the instruments that can manipulate and measure materials with tiny dimensions. Nanomaterials science has seen rapid development in the past decade, and many new applications are emerging in diverse fields including communications, the environment, medicine, and wearable technologies. My research involves the fabrication and characterization of silicon quantum dots (QDs) a few nanometres in diameter, with two goals: (i) to create practical silicon-based light emitting devices that are compatible with the processing techniques, materials, and environmental constraints of the semiconductor industry, and (ii) to advance our understanding of the physical processes of their growth and of how they emit light. Achieving these goals will provide Canadian industry with new opportunities in emerging areas of optical communications and computing. Among the techniques used to solve critical materials problems limiting the commercial use of quantum technologies is positron annihilation, which uses positrons (the antiparticle of the electron) as a probe for tiny defects which can profoundly change the properties of materials. Construction is nearing completion for the CFI-funded McMaster Intense Positron Beam Facility, a nuclear reactor-based positron system. A state-of-the-art experimental chamber designed to make use of the new beam facility has been developed in my laboratory at The University of Western Ontario, which will provide new capabilities for measuring defects, and will assist the development of new materials and devices. Using the unique capabilities of this equipment, I propose to provide insight into the behaviour of defects which can be exploited in the next generation of electronic and optoelectronic devices. This research will have benefits for understanding the detrimental effects of defects on electronic device performance, and for developing techniques for nanoscale manipulation of materials. This research program is designed to provide a number of original end-to-end research projects for students, both graduate and undergraduate. In the course of the research, the students will gain experience with a variety of the techniques used in high technology industry, and will be prepared for successful careers in industry or in universities.