Manipulating properties of electrodeposited materials via defects and temmplated growth

就像人一样，固体材料永远不会完美。也像人一样，固体中的不完美通常会定义他们的性格，使他们独一无二。事实上，有些材料目前的科学和技术吸引力与它们可以容纳的缺陷和杂质类型密切相关。例如，氧化锌是用于透明晶体管的主要候选者，可以实现更明亮，更节能的笔记本电脑显示器。然而，优化氧化锌的性能对科学家提出了挑战，因为这种材料中自然存在各种缺陷。氧化锌等材料的缺陷敏感特性迫切需要-以及黄金机会-控制和定制技术材料的创建策略。 为了满足这一需求，我的研究计划探讨了缺陷在定制氧化锌和其他技术感兴趣的材料的生长和性能方面所起的作用。我的实验利用先进的材料表征技术的强大组合来评估通过电化学方法制备的选定材料的有序（结晶度）和无序（缺陷）。这包括用于磁性、光学和生物相容性涂层的材料。我的长期目标是开发更通用和通用的控制缺陷的策略，以创造经济，更高性能的薄膜材料。 该研究计划将培养高素质的人才，他们在材料合成和表征方面的技能在加拿大和国外的工业和技术部门都受到高度重视。这些熟练的专业人员将能够利用和开发新的仪器和技术，以推动技术材料的发展。

Much like people, solid materials are never perfect. Also like people, the imperfections in a solid often define their character and make them unique. In fact, there are materials whose current scientific and technological appeal is intimately related to the types of defects and impurities that they can accommodate. For example, zinc oxide is a leading candidate for use in the transparent transistors that could enable brighter, more energy-efficient laptop computer displays. However, optimizing the performance of zinc oxide has challenged scientists because of the kinds of imperfections that occur naturally within this material. The defect-sensitive properties of materials like zinc oxide present an urgent need - as well as a golden opportunity - for strategies to control and tailor the creation of technological materials.          Addressing this need, my research program explores the role that defects play in tailoring the growth and performance of zinc oxide and other materials of technological interest. My experiments utilize a powerful combination of leading-edge material characterization techniques to assess the order (crystallinity) and disorder (defects) in selected materials prepared by electrochemical methods. This includes materials with applications for magnetics, optics, and biocompatible coatings. My long-term goal is to develop more general and versatile strategies for controlling imperfections to create economical, higher performance thin film materials.       This research program will produce highly qualified personnel whose skills in material synthesis and characterization are highly sought in the industrial and technology sectors, both within Canada and abroad. These skilled professionals will be able to utilize and develop novel instrumentation and techniques to advance the development of technological materials.