Vacuum polyradical deposition (VPRD) techniques for specialty nanoelectronics

加拿大的塑料和聚合物制造业需要振兴，而加拿大的信息和通信技术(ICT)制造业正在蓬勃发展。我们的大数据社会和ICT的进步产生了对新制造解决方案的持续需求，在所需的厚度、简单性和成本水平上，这些解决方案目前是硅电子产品无法提供的，基于有机聚合物的“塑料”电子产品经常被建议作为有前途的替代方案。这就迫切需要开发先进的、环保的制造方法来生产电子级的“塑料”材料。多自由基是一种聚合物，其中每个重复单元都支撑着一个无与伦比的电子设备，是闪存研究的前沿，闪存是一种数据存储单元，能够在没有任何外部电源的情况下保留信息，但可以无限次写入。这项提议充分利用了范奇尼-吉尔罗伊团队最近取得的创纪录成就，该团队展示了来自新设计的多自由基poly[1，5-diisopropyl-3-(cis-5-norbornene-exo-2，3-dicarboxiimide)-6-oxo-verdazyl](P60V)的超薄闪存器件并获得了专利，该器件获得了有史以来最薄的有源层(10 Nm)，比商业硅同行薄得多。为了利用这一令人震惊的发现，必须实现一个工业可扩展的系统，该系统有可能从有机多自由基导出集成电子产品。Fanchini-Gilroy团队将与加拿大最大的电子真空聚合物沉积系统生产商Plamionique合作，开发一种新型真空聚合物沉积(VPRD)反应器的原型，该反应器将由我们的工业合作伙伴商业化，实现无溶剂和环保的多自由基的大规模生产，对加拿大有很大的好处。新的VPRD制造系统也将展示将大量存储元件集成到单个芯片上的闪存原型，该系统将采用西方大学纳米加工设施开发的器件图案化技术。

The Canadian plastics and polymer manufacturing sector is in need of a rejuvenation, while Canada'sinformation and communication technology (ICT) manufacturing is booming. Our 'big' data society and theprogress of ICT generate a continuous demand for new manufacturing solutions that, at the required levels ofthinness, simplicity, and costs, are not currently available from silicon electronics, and 'plastic' electronicsbased on organic polymers have often been suggested as promising alternative. This has created a pressingneed for the development of advanced, environmentally-friendly manufacturing methods for the production ofelectronic-grade 'plastic' materials. Polyradicals, polymers in which each repeated unit supports an unpairedelectron, are at the forefront of research in 'flash' memories, data storage units capable to retain informationwithout any external power source, but are writable an unlimited number of times. This proposal capitalizes onthe recent record achievement of the Fanchini-Gilroy team that has demonstrated and patented ultrathin flashmemory devices from a newly designed polyradical, poly[1,5-diisopropyl-3-(cis-5-norbornene-exo-2,3-dicarboxiimide)-6-oxo-verdazyl] (P6OV), with the thinnest active layer (10 nm) ever obtained, muchthinner than their commercial silicon counterparts. To capitalize on this startling discovery, an industriallyscalable system with the potential to lead to integrated electronics from organic polyradicals must beimplemented. In partnership with Plasmionique, Canada's largest producer of vacuum polymer depositionsystems for electronics , the Fanchini-Gilroy team will develop the prototype of a new vacuum polyradicaldeposition (VPRD) reactor that will be commercialized by our industrial partner, enabling solvent-free andenvironmentally-friendly mass production of polyradicals, with strong benefits to Canada. A prototype of aflash memory integrating a large number of memory components onto a single chip will also be demonstratedwith the new VPRD fabrication system, which will feature device patterning technology developed at theWestern University Nanofabrication Facility.