Photonic Moire Nanostructures for Scalable Fabrication of Quantum Structures

可扩展的制造过程可以产生纳米尺度的图案，而没有自然的几何模拟，这在纳米结构器件结构的形成中是有用的。由金属建筑单元组成的超薄纳米结构（人类头发直径的千分之一）可以以新的方式控制光的流动，并改变现代笨重的设备。这样的表面将加速制造新材料的进展，以及涉及量子通信的国内产业的出现，增强太阳能电池的光收集，以及用于光学电路的紧凑光发射器。从历史上看，复杂纳米结构设计的创造需要精确、缓慢的生产工具，这些工具既昂贵又耗时。这项研究将探索高度可复制和广泛灵活的方法，以形成具有非常规几何形状的表面，用于简单易用的光刻工具进行光操作。通过结合材料科学工程师和计算科学家的专业知识，这项研究扩大了我们国家在量子信息处理和国家安全防伪关键的可扩展制造工艺方面的领导地位。这项工作还将通过向代表性不足的社区进行实际演示和广泛提供描述本研究中使用的技术的视频教程相结合，提高科学素养。在特定的旋转偏移上叠加周期阵列产生干涉图样，称为莫尔图样。根据偏移角度的不同，波纹图案可能是高度对称的或非周期性的。将两层二维原子材料以一个“魔角”堆叠在一起，产生了电子莫尔势，显示出意想不到的物理性质，包括超导性和拓扑激子态。本项目发展可扩展的纳米制造方法，以纳米光刻技术为基础，产生大面积的光子纳米结构。虽然周期性纳米结构可以通过纳米压印和激光干涉光刻等技术制造，但这些图案通常限于具有单个重复单元的阵列。然而，通过多次曝光和周期性掩模库，moir<s:1>纳米光刻技术可以大大扩展对称的数量，而不仅仅是通过堆叠二维原子材料实现的。模式形成、转移和处理将被优化，以研究可能只有通过组织成超对称的纳米结构才能实现的光子特性。一个应用将集中在纳米制造光子结构上，这些光子结构可能支持拓扑状态，或者可以与量子发射器耦合，以实现前所未有的光-物质相互作用。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Scalable manufacturing procedures that can generate nanoscale patterns with no natural geometric analog are useful in the formation of nanostructured device structures. Ultrathin nanostructures (one thousandth the diameter of a human hair) composed of metallic building units can control the flow of light in new ways and transform modern bulky devices. Such surfaces will accelerate progress in fabricating new materials and the emergence of domestic industries involving quantum communication, enhanced light collection for solar cells, and compact light emitters for optical circuits. Historically, the creation of complex nanostructured designs has required precise, slow-production tools that are expensive and time consuming. This research will explore highly reproducible and broadly flexible methods to form surfaces with unconventional geometries for light manipulation from simple and accessible lithography tools. By incorporating the expertise of materials science engineers and computational scientists, this research expands our nation’s leadership in scalable manufacturing processes critical for quantum information processing and anti-counterfeiting for national security. This work will also increase scientific literacy through a combination of hands-on demonstrations to under-represented communities and widely available video tutorials depicting the techniques used in this research.Superimposing periodic arrays at specific rotational offsets produce interference patterns known as moiré patterns. Depending on the offset angle, the moiré pattern may be highly symmetric or aperiodic. Stacking two layers of 2D atomic materials at a “magic angle” has resulted in electronic moiré potentials that show unexpected physical properties including superconductivity and topological excitonic states. This project develops scalable nanofabrication methods to generate large-area photonic moiré nanostructures by building on moiré nanolithography. Although periodic nanostructures can be fabricated by techniques such as nanoimprinting and laser interference lithography, the patterns are typically limited to arrays with a single repeating unit. With multiple exposures and a library of periodic masks, however, moiré nanolithography can drastically expand the number of symmetries beyond those realized by stacking 2D atomic materials. Pattern formation, transfer, and processing will be optimized to investigate photonic properties that may only be realized by nanoarchitectures organized into super-symmetries. One application will focus on the nanomanufacturing of photonic structures that may support topological states or that can be coupled to quantum emitters for unprecedented light-matter interactions.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.