Acquisition of Instrumentation for Study of Electronic Materials and Nanostructures

主要研究方向为：1)通过分子束外延、扫描隧道显微蚀刻、化学气相沉积、电化学欠电位沉积等方法开发纳米材料的制备和加工；2)金属化和半导体接触区域的研究；3)开发钝化层，如金属氮化物和氧化物；4)开发与电子应用相关的新材料，包括高温超导薄膜、薄磁性薄膜、铁电薄膜和块状晶体、宽禁带氧化物半导体、导电聚合物、金属合金的单分子层和纳米线以及从可溶性金属前体析出的金属间化合物。学术研究基础设施计划的资金将用于购买额外的仪器，以增强现有的能力，并启动一个中央材料表征和制造设施。新仪器将包括：1)激光烧蚀薄膜沉积系统，2)交流电纳/直流磁强计，3)环境控制大样本扫描微探针，4)原子力/扫描隧道微探针用于电化学研究，5)硬币计数质谱仪，6)高分辨率电子能量损失光谱仪。项目5)将根据内部设计定制。本研究关注的是新的电子材料和器件的制造和表征，以及与它们的性质和工艺相关的基本机制的理解。该研究涵盖了从薄膜超导体、铁电材料和磁性材料到宽禁带半导体到金属合金和金属间化合物的单分子层和纳米线的广泛材料。

The research of this materials-oriented group of experimentalists is focused on 1) the development of nanometer fabrication and processing through molecular beam epitaxy, scanning tunnel microscopy etching and chemical vapor deposition, and electrochemical underpotential dep-osition, 2) the study of metallization and contact regions to semicon- ductors, 3) development of passivation layers such as metal nitrides and oxides and 4) development of new materials relevant to electronics applications which include high critical temperature superconducting films, thin magnetic films, ferroelectric films and bulk crystals, wide bandgap oxide semiconductors, electrically conductive polymers, and monomolecular layers and nanowires of metal alloys and intermetallics precipitated from soluble metal precursors. The Academic Research Infrastrusture Program funds will be employed to acquire additional instrumentation to augment the present capabilities and to initiate a central materials characterization and fabrication facility. The new instruments will include: 1) Laser Ablation Thin Film Deposition System, 2) AC Susceptometer/DC Magnetometer, 3) Environmentally Controlled Large Sample Scanning Microprobe, 4) Atomic Force/ Scanning Tunneling Microprobe for Elecrochemical Studies, 5) Coin- cidence Counting Mass Spectrometer, 6) High Resolution Electron Energy Loss Spectrometer. Item 5) will be custom built from in house designs. This research is concerned with the fabrication and characterization of new electronic materials and devices, in addition to developing an understanding of the fundamental mechanisms associated with their properties and processes. The research spans a broad range of materials from thin films superconductors, ferroelectric and magmetic materials to wide bandgap semiconductors to monomolecular layers and nanowires of metal alloys and intermetallic compounds.