Epitaxial Growth and Characterization of 2-Dimensional Quantum Materials

该研究计划将通过使用金属有机化学气相沉积（MOCVD）技术在2D材料生长方面的卓越研究，建立加拿大开发和商业化新型量子电路的能力。自从首次成功制造单层石墨烯（六边形“蜂窝”晶格中的碳单原子层）以及对石墨烯显着的量子电子特性的研究（获得2010年诺贝尔奖）以来，2D材料一直受到广泛研究。2D单分子层通常通过机械剥离（透明胶带技术）生产，该技术包括从大块晶体上手动剥离连续更薄的薄片，直到最终发现单个单分子层。所得薄片虽然质量非常高，但非常小，只能通过费力的光学显微镜搜索来识别，因此将2D材料限制在概念验证设备上。该计划将开发大面积2D薄膜和石墨烯，六方氮化硼和过渡金属二硫属化物（TMD）异质结构的生长和表征技术。石墨烯是一种零带隙半导体，而TMD（WS 2，WSe 2，MoS 2，MoSe 2）是具有强可见光和近红外光发射的直接带隙半导体，为光电器件应用提供了令人兴奋的可能性。此外，TMD晶体具有两个不等效的电子谷，可以用圆偏振光独立寻址，开辟了“谷电子学”的全新领域。与自旋电子学类似，这为谷偏振的相干操纵和超灵敏传感提供了迷人的机会。大面积生长是加速2D器件开发的关键差异化因素，为大规模集成和可制造性提供了可行的途径。我们的2D-MOCVD系统是北美的第一个，也是世界上第三个这样的系统，为HQP提供了宝贵的机会，以领导商业化前沿的研究。研究工作利用了uOttawa和加拿大创新基金会的重大投资（600万美元），确保该计划得到世界一流仪器的支持。将建立卓越的材料，并建立积极的合作，以利用这种能力，为整个加拿大的2D和量子研究人员带来好处。这将大大提高加拿大在量子和神经形态计算、高度集成的量子传感器、电路和潜在的硅以外的超大规模集成电路方面的创新能力。高质量、大面积的2D薄膜和异质结构将为在全晶圆上进行器件架构的大型实验矩阵研究提供机会，大大加速对2D量子器件的科学理解。这将导致创新，高性能，低功耗系统和TRL向商业化的进步。

This research program will build a Canadian capacity for the development and commercialization of novel quantum circuits through research excellence in 2D materials growth using the technique of metalorganic chemical vapour deposition (MOCVD). 2D materials have been studied intensely since the first successful fabrication of monolayer graphene - a single atomic layer of carbon in a hexagonal "honeycomb" lattice - and the study of graphene's remarkable quantum electronic properties which earned the 2010 Nobel Prize. 2D monolayers are typically produced by mechanical exfoliation (the Scotch Tape Technique), which involves manually peeling successively thinner flakes from a bulk crystal until eventually a single monolayer is found. The resulting flakes, though of very high quality, are extremely small and only identified through a laborious optical microscopy search, thus far limiting 2D materials to proof-of-concept devices. This program will develop growth and characterization techniques for large-area 2D films and heterostructures of graphene, hexagonal boron nitride and transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs). While graphene is a zero-gap semiconductor, the TMDs (WS2, WSe2, MoS2, MoSe2) are direct-bandgap semiconductors with strong visible and near-IR light emission, presenting exciting possibilities for optoelectronic device applications. Moreover, TMD crystals have two inequivalent electronic valleys which can be independently addressed with circularly-polarized light, opening up the entirely new field of "Valleytronics". In analogy with Spintronics, this presents fascinating opportunities for coherent manipulation of the valley polarization and ultra-sensitive sensing. Large-area growth is a key differentiator to accelerate 2D device development, providing a feasible route to large-scale integration and manufacturability. Our 2D-MOCVD system is the first in North America and only the third such system in the world, providing invaluable opportunities for HQPs to lead research on the frontlines of commercialization. The research effort leverages significant ($6M) investments from uOttawa and the Canada Foundation for Innovation, ensuring that the program is supported by world-class instrumentation. Materials excellence will be established and active collaborations will be built to leverage this capacity for the benefit of 2D and quantum researchers throughout Canada. This will significantly enhance Canada's innovation capability for quantum and neuromorphic computing, highly-integrated quantum sensors, circuits and potentially ultra-large-scale-integrated circuits beyond silicon. High-quality, large-area 2D films and heterostructures will provide opportunities for large experimental-matrix studies of device architectures on full wafers, greatly accelerating the scientific understanding of 2D quantum devices. This will lead to innovative, high-performance, low-power-consumption systems and the advancement of TRL towards commercialization.