Properties of Semiconductor and Magnetic Nanostructures

几乎所有的高科技行业都在不断地朝着体积更小、性能更高、效率更高的半导体、光电和磁电子元件和器件发展。实现这些成果的关键是能够以越来越小的长度尺度制造结构，现在接近一米的十亿分之一。如此小的结构通常以“纳米”作为前缀，这意味着“十亿分之一”。这项研究计划的目的是为理解半导体和磁性纳米结构以及原子水平上的变化如何影响完整器件的性能做出必要的科学框架贡献。为了研究这种微小的结构，高度聚焦的电子探针被扫描穿过样品表面，并测量产生的电流，产生的光，以及从样品中散射和穿过样品的电子。通过研究这些电子如何与原子的独特排列相互作用，可以获得对纳米级设备如何工作的宝贵见解。这项研究的主要成果将是增加对纳米级半导体和磁性器件操作的理解，这将导致器件功能的改进。此外，预期为描述和改进这些系统而开发的方法将在生物、化学和环境科学中得到交叉应用。加拿大将通过培训能够促进加拿大高科技工业竞争力的高技能研究人员而受益于这项工作。

There is a continual drive in nearly all high-technology industries towards smaller, higher performance and higher efficiency semiconductor, opto-electronic and magneto-electronic components and devices. Key to achieving these gains is the ability to manufacture structures at progressively smaller length scales, now approaching a billionth of a metre across. Structures this small are often prefixed by the term "nano" which implies "one billionth". It is the purpose of this research program to contribute towards the scientific framework necessary for understanding semiconductor and magnetic nano-structures and how changes at the atomic level can impact the performance of a complete device. In order to investigate structures this tiny, highly focused probes of electrons are scanned across the surface of a sample and the electrical currents generated, light produced, and the electrons scattered off of and through the sample are measured. By studying how these electrons interact with a unique arrangement of atoms, valuable insights can be gained into how nano-sized devices work. The main outcome of this research will be an increased understanding of the operation of semiconductor and magnetic devices at the nano-scale that will lead to improved device functionality. In addition, it is expected that the methodologies developed for characterizing and improving these systems will find cross applications in the biological, chemical and environmental sciences. Canada will benefit from this work through the training of highly skilled researchers that can contribute to the competitiveness of Canada's high-technology industries.