Examine to enhance the mechanical sustainability of thin-film structures

申请人提出开发一种创新且具有成本效益的单片微机电系统（MEMS），以通过实现原位高分辨率成像系统（包括扫描电子显微镜（SEM）和透射电子显微镜（TEM））的定量机械表征来加速基于光刻膜的应用向市场的转移。由于硅基创新几乎达到了它们的物理极限，薄/超薄膜结构的类别（即，二维材料（2DM））由于其用于下一代电子器件的上级物理性能而成为最有希望的替代构建块之一（例如，光电探测器、场效应晶体管、太阳能电池），以支持一系列颠覆性技术，包括增强现实（AR）、自动驾驶汽车（AV）和物联网（IoT）。到2028年，基于2DM的设备的市场规模预计将达到2030亿美元，复合年增长率（CAGR）为15%以上。虽然实验室规模的2DM设备已经证明具有前所未有的性能，但在将其转移到市场之前的关键步骤是确保其性能的一致性。然而，与硅基器件相比，评估基于纳米和精细2DM的器件的性能更具挑战性，特别是在需要对纳米膜进行动态加载的情况下评估其机械可持续性。基于我们以前的开发，我们建议开发一种新型的单片MEMS，用于原位SEM/TEM的2DM薄膜的机械表征，其生产成本比市场上的独角兽产品低得多。基于MEMS的系统还可以方便地适于实现2DM器件的其他特性的表征（例如，电、机电、热等）在未来作为一个'万用表'的2DM为基础的设备。2028年，基于2DM的器件测试设备的市场规模预计将达到约22亿美元，这使得我们的工作对加拿大主要分销商（日立）、MEMS制造商（C2MI）和最终用户（UofT）具有吸引力。

The applicant proposes to develop an innovative and cost-effective monolithic micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) to accelerate the transfer of ultrathin film-based applications to the marketplace by enabling quantitative mechanical characterizations in situ high-resolution imaging systems, including scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). As silicon-based innovations have almost reached their physical limitations, the class of thin/ultra-thin film structures (i.e., two-dimensional materials (2DM)) is one of the most promising alternative building blocks due to their superior physical properties for next-generation electronics (e.g., photodetectors, field-effect transistors, solar cells) to support a range of disruptive technologies including augmented reality (AR), autonomous vehicles (AV) and Internet of Things (IoT). The market size of 2DM-based devices is projected to $203 billion by 2028 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15+%. While exotic lab-scale 2DM devices have been demonstrated with unprecedented performance, a critical step before they can be transferred to the marketplace is to assure their consistency in performance. However, it is much more challenging to evaluate the performance of ultrathin and delicate 2DM-based than silicon-based devices, especially the evaluation of their mechanical sustainability where dynamic loading to the nanofilms is required. Based on our previous development, we are proposing to develop a novel monolithic MEMS tailored for mechanical characterizations of 2DM films in situ SEM/TEM, which can be produced at a significantly lower cost than the unicorn product on the market. The MEMS-based system can also be conveniently adapted to enable characterizations of other properties of 2DM devices (e.g., electrical, mechano-electrical, thermal, etc.) in the future to work as a 'multi-meter' for 2DM-based devices. The estimated market size of testing equipment for 2DM-based devices is projected to be ~$2.2 billion in 2028, which made our work attractive to major Canadian distributors (Hitachi), MEMS manufacturers (C2MI), and end-users (UofT).