Cryogenic Probe Station With Optical Apertures to Investigate Light Interactions with Charged Matter

了解有机半导体（OS）中的电荷传输对于深入了解此类分子固体并构思更适合电子器件的新分子结构至关重要。与晶体硅不同，OS中分子间相互作用的弱非共价性质不允许用离域布洛赫波来描述电子和空穴，因此大多数用于固态物理研究这些材料中电荷输运的常规实验技术都无法描述它们的复杂行为。目前，只有少数实验技术可以测量OS中的声子（和振动）模式，但它们无法探测自由电荷与此类声子模式的相互作用。为了填补这一重大空白，我们要求购买一个配备光学访问窗口的低温探测器，这将成为一种新型光谱学的先驱，电荷累积太赫兹光谱学（CATS），它将首次测量分子材料中的原位电子-声子相互作用。INRS-EMT、麦吉尔大学、蒙特利尔理工学院和蒙特利尔大学的10个研究小组（4个申请者和7个其他支持实验室）将利用该工具来支持建议的研究。这种新的光谱技术（CATS）代表了物理学，材料科学和合成化学的重大进步，因为它是一种强大的工具，可以清楚地表明哪些材料更适合于电子应用。通过将收集的光谱特征分别在不存在和存在电荷的情况下相关联，我们可以对给定的有机分子设计（在OS的情况下）对电子学的适用性进行有效的筛选。在短期内，CATS可以扩展到其他材料，如有机卤化物钙钛矿或量子点，这些材料在太赫兹范围内具有很强的声子响应。从长远来看，所产生的知识可以支持未来采用CATS作为筛选电子材料的实验室工具。三位申请人的优秀业绩记录和互补的专业知识将确保拟议计划的快速进展和全面成功。此外，鉴于所要求的工具包的多用途和多功能性，它的使用将允许在至少11个研究小组中培训HQP，这将使总数达到约1000人。50位博士学生，20名博士后研究员（PDF），20名硕士生，也将开放给暑期学生。由于CATS是INRS-EMT开发的一种新颖而强大的技术，因此它具有巨大的潜力，可以为所有接受过设备培训的HQP提供可销售的技能。所要求的设备还将为与行业和大学的广泛合作开辟机会，从而通过使学生接触工业工作环境并使他们能够与加拿大和其他地方的主要参与者互动来加强学生的培训。

Understanding charge transport in organic semiconductors (OS) is of paramount importance for gaining deeper knowledge of such molecular solids and conceiving new molecular structures that are more suited for electronic devices. Unlike crystalline silicon, the weak noncovalent nature of the intermolecular interactions in OS does not allow to describe electrons and holes in terms of delocalized Bloch waves therefore most of the conventional experimental techniques employed in solid-state physics to investigate charge transport in these materials fail to describe their complex behavior. Currently, only a few experimental techniques could allow to measure phonon (and vibrational) modes in OS but they are not able to probe the interactions of free charges with such phonon modes.******To fill this major gap, we request the purchase of a cryogenic probestation equipped with windows for optical access that will allow to pioneer a novel type of spectroscopy, Charge Accumulation THz spectroscopy (CATS), which for the first time will measure in situ electron-phonon interactions in molecular materials. Ten research groups at INRS-EMT, McGill University, Polytechnique Montréal, and Université de Montréal (4 applicants and 7 other supportive laboratories) will exploit this tool to support the suggested research. Such novel spectroscopic technique (CATS) represents a major advance in physics, materials science and synthetic chemistry as it is a powerful tool to give a clear indication of which materials are more suited for applications in electronics. By correlating the collected spectral features in absence and in presence of charges, respectively, we could make an efficient screening of the suitability of a given organic molecular design (in the case of OS) for electronics. In the short term, CATS could be extended to other materials such as organic-halide perovskites or quantum dots that have strong phononic response in the THz range. In the long term, the generated knowledge could support future adoption of CATS as a laboratory tool to screen materials for electronics.******The excellent track records and complementary expertise of the three applicants will ensure the fast progress and overall success of the proposed program. Furthermore, given the multipurpose and versatile nature of the requested toolkit, its use will allow to train HQP in at least 11 research teams, which would make a total of ca. 50 Ph.D. students, 20 postdoctoral fellows (PDFs), 20 M.Sc. students and will be also open to host summer students. Since CATS is a novel and powerful technique developed at INRS-EMT, it has a huge potential to provide marketable skills for all HQP trained on the equipment. The requested equipment will also open up opportunities for broad collaborations with industries and universities and thus enhance the students' training by exposing them to industrial working environments and by allowing them to interact with key players in Canada and elsewhere.**