FMRG: Artificial Intelligence Driven Cybermanufacturing of Quantum Material Architectures

量子材料结构由石墨烯和其他二维材料组成，当它们堆积在精确的三维结构中时，显示出独特的和可调的机械、电、光学和磁性。这些三维结构具有广泛的潜在应用前景，是微芯片、电池、天线、化学和生物传感器、太阳能电池和神经接口的极有前途的元件。然而，目前，由于缺乏对物理和化学过程的基本了解，这些三维结构的制造一直难以控制或规模化。这笔未来制造(FM)赠款是为了使用网络制造方法为量子材料架构开发一个变革性的未来制造平台，该方法结合了人工智能、机器人技术、多尺度建模和预测模拟，用于将多个二维材料自动和并行组装成复杂的三维结构。这一平台使未来能够为广泛和关键的应用生产高质量的定制量子材料架构，支持美国在技术开发方面的持续领先地位。网络制造研究与创新教育项目相结合，为科学家和工程师提供跨学科培训，特别是在先进制造、人工智能和量子结构方面对女性和未被充分代表的少数群体进行培训，以及让公众参与未来的制造概念。这项授权研究集中在一种全新的方法，即使用微流控组装可扩展制造3D量子材料体系结构或范德华异质结构(VDWHs)。VDDH由原子薄层的无限组合组成，并显示出有趣的新兴功能。关键的工艺创新是2D材料的精密微流控折叠，这已经在小规模上得到了证明。这种方法有很大的潜力扩大到晶片规模，对规模没有根本限制。第二项关键创新是将人工智能(AI)嵌入到制造工艺流程的所有方面，从低级别的精度控制到自动化表征，再到高级的结构预测。预测模拟和可视化工具与原位光谱分析相结合，可以实时分析原子尺度的物理和化学过程及其控制。此外，微流控环境中的并行自组装被作为实现真正可扩展制造的途径进行了研究。该奖项的预期结果是产生由数十个原子层组成的超晶格，具有精确设计的堆积顺序和排列，从而从根本上产生具有传统材料结构无法获得的电子和光子特性的全新定制量子材料结构。这项研究推进了材料物理、纳米电子学和光子科学的基础知识，引领着未来设备的制造，如双电子学。一个关键成果是一个人工智能驱动、机器人控制的网络制造微流控平台，它能够为新兴的量子和其他设备应用制造复杂的结构。这项未来制造研究拨款得到了工程局的以下部门的支持：土木工程、机械和制造创新；电气、通信和网络系统；工程教育和中心；以及数学和物理科学的以下部门：材料研究、化学和数学科学。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Quantum material architectures consist of graphene and other two-dimensional materials, which, when stacked in precise three-dimensional architectures, exhibit unique and tunable mechanical, electrical, optical, and magnetic properties. These three-dimensional architectures have broad potential applications and are highly promising components for microchips, batteries, antennas, chemical and biological sensors, solar-cells and neural interfaces. However, currently, due to the lack of fundamental understanding of the physical and chemical processes, it has been difficult to control or scale the manufacturing of these three-dimensional structures. This Future Manufacturing (FM) grant is to develop a transformative Future Manufacturing platform for quantum material architectures using a cybermanufacturing approach, which combines artificial intelligence, robotics, multiscale modeling, and predictive simulation for the automated and parallel assembly of multiple two-dimensional materials into complex three-dimensional structures. This platform enables future production of high-quality, custom quantum material architectures for broad and critical applications, supporting continued U.S. leadership in technology development. The research in cybermanufacturing is integrated with innovative educational programs for cross-disciplinary training of scientists and engineers, especially, women and underrepresented minorities, in advanced manufacturing, artificial intelligence and quantum structures, as well as engaging the public in future manufacturing concepts. This grant research focuses on a fundamentally new method for scalable manufacturing of 3D quantum material architectures or van der Waals heterostructures (vdWHs) using microfluidic assembly. vdWHs are composed of unlimited combinations of atomically thin layers and exhibit interesting emerging functionalities. The key process innovation is precision microfluidic folding of 2D materials, which has been demonstrated at a small-scale. This method has promising potential to scale up to wafer scale, with no fundamental limit on scaling. A second key innovation is embedding artificial intelligence (AI) across all aspects of the manufacturing process flow, from low-level precision control, to automated characterization, to high-level structure predictions. Predictive simulation and visualization tools combined with in situ spectroscopy allow real-time analysis of atomic-scale physical and chemical processes and their control. Moreover, parallel self-assembly in microfluidic environments is investigated as a pathway toward truly scalable manufacturing. The expected outcome of the award is to produce superlattices consisting of tens of atomic layers with precisely engineered stacking order and alignment, leading to fundamentally new custom quantum material architectures with electronic and photonic properties impossible to obtain from conventional material architectures. This research advances fundamental knowledge in material physics, nanoscale electronics and photonic science leading the way to manufacturing of future devices, such as twistronics. A key outcome is an AI-driven, robotics-controlled cybermanufacturing microfluidic platform that is capable of manufacturing complex structures for emerging quantum and other device applications.This Future Manufacturing research grant is supported by the following Divisions in the Engineering Directorate: Civil, Mechanical and Manufacturing Innovation; Electrical, Communications and Cyber Systems; and Engineering Education and Centers; and the following Divisions in the Mathematical and Physical Sciences: Materials Research; Chemistry; and Mathematical Sciences.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.