NIRT: The Evolution and Self-Assembly of Quantum Dots

该提案是响应“纳米尺度科学与工程”（NSF-00-119）的征求而提交的。由此产生的拨款由材料研究部和数学科学部共同资助。量子点和量子线等纳米结构可用于生产具有新型电子特性的器件。一个特别有希望的量子点形成途径是通过在异质外延过程中发生的自发自组装过程。为了控制量子点的形成和自组装过程，使这些新型电子器件成为现实，该研究小组将研究量子点形成的机制，并开发量子点形成和自组织过程的预测模型。实现这一目标需要跨学科的综合努力，可以解决量子点的形成和自组装过程，从原子到连续体或纳米长度尺度。因此，该小组的工作将涉及，例如，表面能和表面扩散系数的第一性原理计算，量子点形状和组成在沉积过程中的演变计算，以及量子点图案形成或自组装的非线性动力学。每一种努力都将相互促进，因为较小长度尺度上的信息将被用于更大规模的计算，使我们能够跨越从一纳米到数千纳米的长度尺度。该项目的最终目标是了解控制量子点形成和自组装的重要材料问题，并开发预测模型，使量子点纳米结构的第一性原理设计成为可能。这些模型可用于设计和创建特定的量子点结构，为新型量子点电子器件的制造提供可能的突破。%%%***

This proposal was submitted in response to the solicitation "Nanoscale Science and Engineering" (NSF-00-119). The resulting grant is co-funded by the Divisions of Materials Research and Mathematical Sciences. Nanostructures such as quantum dots and quantum wires can be employed to yield devices with novel electronic properties. One particularly promising route to quantum dot formation is via the spontaneous self-assembly process that occurs during heteroepitaxy. To control the quantum dot formation and self-assembly process to the extent that these novel electronic devices become a reality, this team of researchers will investigate the mechanisms of dot formation, and develop predictive models of the dot formation and self-organization process.Achieving this goal requires an integrated interdisciplinary effort that can address the quantum dot formation and self-assembly process from the atomistic to the continuum or nanometer length scales. The work of this group will thus involve, for example, first-principle calculations of surface energies and surface diffusion coefficients, calculations of the evolution of quantum dot shape and composition during deposition, and the nonlinear dynamics of pattern formation or self-assembly of quantum dots. Each effort will feed into the other, as the information at the smaller length scales will be employed in the larger scale calculations, enabling us to bridge length scales that range from the fraction of a nanometer to thousands of nanometers. The ultimate goal of the project is to develop an understanding of the important materials issues governing formation and self-assembly of quantum dots, and to develop predictive models that enable the first-principles design of quantum dot nanostructures. The models can then be used to design and create specific quantum dot structures, providing for possible breakthroughs in the fabrication of new quantum dot electronic devices.%%%***