NER/SNB: Nanophononics: A New Approach to Electron Transport Enhancement in Nanoscale Devices

这项研究的目的是证明在特殊设计的声学失配纳米结构中，限制电子限制的声子散射率被抑制并相应地增强电子迁移率的可能性。这种新的纳米声子方法是基于嵌入在具有较小声阻抗Z(材料质量密度和声速的乘积)的势垒材料中的半导体纳米线中的声子耗尽/积累效应。这项研究的重点是严格计算嵌入“声音较软”包层的半导体沟道中的电子迁移率和电导率；选择最佳的纳米线和势垒材料参数以实现最大的迁移率增强；以及使用原型结构进行实验验证。这项研究将对电子行业产生强大的影响，既影响传统的互补金属氧化物半导体(CMOS)技术，也影响Beyond-CMOS电子器件设计。这项研究将增加纳米结构和纳米器件中电子传输的核心知识，并将有助于发展声子工程的概念。设想中的声子工程(纳米声子学)方法可以提高电子设备的运行，其影响可以与电子带隙工程相媲美，后者给电子和光电子行业带来了一场革命。在该项目下开发的方法将转移到半导体行业。此外，这项跨学科研究将有助于在加州大学河滨分校建立一个强大的纳米技术教育项目，该大学是少数族裔服务机构，拥有加州大学所有10个校区中最多的少数族裔学生。

The objective of this research is to demonstrate a possibility of the confined electron - confined phonon scattering rate suppression and corresponding enhancement of the electron mobility in the specially designed acoustically mismatched nanostructures. The novel nanophononic approach is based on the phonon depletion/accumulation effect in the semiconductor nanowires embedded within a barrier material characterized by a smaller acoustic impedance Z (which is a product of the material mass density and the sound velocity). The research is focused on the rigorous calculation of the electron mobility and electrical conductivity in the semiconductor channel embedded into the "acoustically softer" cladding layer; selection of the optimum nanowire and barrier material parameters for the maximum mobility enhancement; and experimental proof-of-the-concept demonstration using the prototype structures. The research will have a strong impact on the electronic industry affecting both the conventional complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology and beyond-CMOS electronic device designs. The research will add to the core knowledge of the electron transport in nanostructures and nanodevices, and will help to develop the concept of phonon engineering. The envisioned phonon engineering (nanophononics) approach to the enhancement of the electronic device operation may have an impact comparable to that of the electron band-gap engineering, which brought a revolution to the electronic and optoelectronic industries. The methods developed under this project will be transferred to semiconductor industry. In addition, this interdisciplinary research will help in building a strong nanotechnology educational program in UC-Riverside, the minority serving institution, with the largest minority student population of all 10 University of California campuses.