GOALI: Large Scale Synthesis and Manufacturing of Atomically Thin Polar Materials for Quantum Applications

该奖项旨在支持为制造二维（2D）极性半导体建立新知识的研究，这是量子信息系统的下一代半导体材料。极性或Janus层状材料在每个面上包含不同的原子，并表现出不寻常的电子特性。原子层沉积是用于生长超薄层状材料的常用方法之一。然而，目前的制造知识局限于制造这些量子材料所必需的原子尺度的精确控制。该GOALI奖项汇集了学术界和行业合作伙伴，为基于原子层沉积的制造技术奠定基础，以合成具有高结构，电子和光学质量的极性半导体。在量子时代，该项目有可能领导量子材料和系统的制造，从而增强美国在全球的经济竞争力。教育和外联计划的重点是在制造科学、材料科学、物理和化学的交叉领域为大都市地区及其他地区的妇女和代表性不足的少数民族提供研究和发展机会。最近发现的Janus二维（2D）材料表现出破镜对称性和巨大的偏振场，导致了经典2D系统中无法发现的新量子效应和功能。然而，这些材料的制造是非常具有挑战性的，因为其需要三种不同元素原子地原子精确沉积以形成化学钝化的货车范德华材料。本研究旨在通过建立原子层沉积（ALD）前体化学和反应动力学来填补极性或Janus半导体材料原子层沉积（ALD）的基本知识空白，以实现晶圆级高质量的2D极性材料。该研究团队与行业合作伙伴一起，计划设计，合成，工程设计和测试新型ALD前体物质，旨在存款三种不同的原子，并建立超薄极性半导体库。该项目建立了ALD反应的动力学，并基于Johnson-Mehl-Avrami-Kolmogorov或蒙特-卡罗模拟对其进行建模。该项目测试的假设是，适当的前体化学，足够高的ALD温度，理想的脉冲/吹扫时间，以及基于氢氧化物的表面化学可以使晶体，激子和电子级极性半导体的制造在晶圆级。先进的表征技术用于建立这些新型量子材料的工艺-结构-性能-性能关系。总体结果旨在使研究人员能够获得这些全新的高结晶极性半导体，这些半导体是当今制造方法无法获得的。该奖项反映了NSF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。

This Grant Opportunities for Academic Liaison with Industry (GOALI) award supports research that establishes new knowledge for the manufacturing of two-dimensional (2D) polar semiconductors, which are next-generation semiconducting materials for quantum information systems. Polar or Janus layered materials contain different atoms on each face and exhibit unusual electronic properties. Atomic layer deposition is one of the common methods used to grow ultra-thin layered materials. However, current manufacturing knowledge is limited in the precise control at atomic scales which is necessary to manufacture these quantum materials. This GOALI award brings together academia and industry partners to establish the foundations of atomic layer deposition-based manufacturing techniques to synthesize polar semiconductors with high structural, electronic, and optical quality. In the quantum age, this project has the potential to lead the manufacturing of quantum materials and systems that augments U.S. economic competitiveness globally. The educational and outreach plans focus on offering research and development opportunities at the intersection of manufacturing science, materials science, physics and chemistry to women and underrepresented minorities in the metropolitan area and beyond. The project offers capstone projects to undergraduate students and creates industry training opportunities.Recently discovered Janus two-dimensional (2D) materials exhibit broken mirror symmetry and colossal polarization fields leading to new quantum effects and functionalities that cannot be found in classical 2D systems. However, the manufacturing of these materials is very challenging since it requires atomically precise deposition of three different elements atom-by-atom in order to form chemically passivated van der Waals materials. This research aims to fill the fundamental knowledge gap in atomic layer deposition (ALD) for polar or Janus semiconductor materials by establishing ALD precursor chemistry and reaction kinetics to achieve high-quality 2D polar materials at wafer-scale. The research team, together with industry partners, plans to design, synthesize, engineer and test new types of ALD precursor species designed to deposit three different atoms and build a library of ultra-thin polar semiconductors. The project establishes the kinetics of ALD reaction and models it based on Johnson-Mehl-Avrami-Kolmogorov or Monte-Carlo simulations. The project tests the hypothesis that proper precursor chemistry, high enough ALD temperature, ideal pulse/purge times, and hydroxide-based surface chemistry can enable the manufacture of crystalline, excitonic and electronic grade polar semiconductors at wafer scales. Advanced characterization techniques are used to establish the process-structure-property-performance relations in these novel quantum materials. The overall results aim to give the researchers access to these completely new highly crystalline polar semiconductors that are not accessible with today's manufacturing methods.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.