Research
We are a Phase I Center for Chemical Innovation sponsored by the National Science Foundation Division of Chemistry. The Oregon Nanoscience and Microtechnologies Institute (ONAMI) played a large role in securing that funding. We are one of three institutions in the country to be awarded a CCI grant from NSF.
We embody a cross-disciplinary team of researchers with expertise in synthesis, analytical tools, and computation, and aim to address three primary research goals. If our programs are successful, we will be in line for continued federal funding of up to $25 million over five years.
Thrust I: We will deliver a toolkit of nanocluster and precursor chemistries comprising more than 15 elements, expanding to most of the abundant, environmentally benign metal atoms.
Center participants have pioneered the use of organic-free nanoclusters and solid acids for the deposition of high-quality oxide thin films. The films have made possible the solution-fabrication of a variety of high-performance transistors and related devices. Our groups are synthesizing new clusters, examining their solution speciation, and probing properties relevant to film deposition. An example of a nanocluster is the Ga13 molecule shown below.
Thrust II: We will usethe toolkit developed in Thurst I to examine the chemical transformations that occur as the precursors condense into solid films. Previously unrealized compositions and properties will be produced with nanoscale spatial control, extending from highly sensitive inorganic lithography to compositionally-nanograded and/or nanostructured insulators that can be exploited in Thrust III.
Center Investigators have produced for the first time very high quality oxide films from solution. These films have provided the first examples of solution-processed nanolaminates exhibiting exceptionally sharp interfaces and surfaces. The laminates are providing new ways to study solid-state chemical reactions and control composition, structure, and properties for device applications.
The chemistries of many of the film precursors have been enhanced for direct lateral patterning without polymer resists. Precursors have been made sensitive to electron-beam, laser, deep UV, and EUV exposures. Inorganic materials have been patterned at < 15 nm with state-of-the-art line-width roughness (< 2 nm) and sensitivities that rival those of chemically amplified resists.
Thrust III: Is aimed at revolutionizing low-cost, large-area electronics by extending the frequency operation ceiling from ~1-10 MHz to GHz through fabrication of vertical transport transistors. This work will make it possible to incorporate high-speed wireless communications and other yet-to-be-imagined technologies onto very large substrates.
As noted in the description of Thrust II, high-quality thin oxide films are now readily available via solution for incorporation into devices. Indeed, hundreds of thousands of thin-film transistors have now been produced on large-area substrates using these films.
These thin-film transistors exhibit relatively modest capabilities with respect to circuit speed capabilities. In this thrust, we will use the ultra-thin, high- quality aspects of deposited films to build devices in a vertical fashion to realize ultra-short spacings between teh emitter and collector of a transistor. Since semicontuctor mobility is replaced by electron tunneling in these devices, performance can surpass conventional transistor technologies on a much simpler fabriction platform.
