This project is jointly funded by the Electronic and Photonic Materials Program (EPM) in the Division of Materials Research (DMR) and the Electronics, Photonics, and Magnetic Devices Program (EPMD) in the Division of Electrical, Communications and Cyber Systems (ECCS).
This project seeks to develop both rational synthetic methods and fundamental understanding of the electrical properties of complex metal oxide nanowires and their heterostructures with diameter below 10 nanometers for the potential applications in advanced nanoelectronics. It enables the experimental and theoretical investigation of ultra-thin ternary and quaternary complex metal oxide nanowires and their heterostructures, advancing the opportunities for the studies of electron transport in these unique platforms. Scientific issues to be addressed include materials synthesis, physical property characterizations, and multiscale modeling. The capability of rational design and scalable synthesis of nanowires with desirable size, morphology, and properties can significantly advance the innovation at the frontier of functional complex metal oxide-based nanoelectronics and provide a great potential for future large-scale device fabrication and deployment.
Non-technical Description: The project addresses fundamental research issues in materials science and electronic devices. Success of the research can have significant impacts on not only complex metal oxide materials systems but also more broadly materials science and device physics. The educational goals of the project are accomplished through the development of interdisciplinary educational and training opportunities for graduate students and industrial experience via internships in industry through the existing collaboration between Purdue University and DuPont, which can also significantly benefit the transformative technology development of transparent thin film electronic devices based on large-scale assembly of complex metal oxide nanowires and their heterostructures on flexible plastic substrates. The research results will be integrated with undergraduate and graduate courses and serve as the basis for undergraduate design projects. Outreach activities to high school students, including students from underrepresented groups, are included in this project.
" awarded by NSF with ID 1206425 from 07/01/2012 to 06/30/2014, Prof. Yue Wu is the PI and Prof. Peide Ye is the co-PI. This project mainly intends to tackle two major challenging issues in the field of complex metal oxide nanostructures: (1) how to rationally synthesize and control the morphology, size, and surface properties of complex metal oxide nanostructures, particularly how to achieve the one-dimensional growth into ultrathin nanowires; and (2) how to in-situ dope these complex metal oxide nanostructures so that their electrical and thermal properties can be utilized for electronic devices and how to establish a reliable way to integrate these complex metal oxide nanostructures into conventional device fabrication. Through the two-year project, a significant progress has been achieved. Specifically, in the synthesis aspect, a single-source precursor approach has been developed to grow complex metal oxide nanowires, such as LiCoO2 and Ca9Co12O28, at a temperature hundreds of degrees lower than the conventional solid-state reaction. By adjusting the initial precursor concentrtaion and growth temperature, a preliminary control over morphology and electrical/trhermal property has been demonstrated; in the electrical device test aspect, transistor devices made by atomic layer epitaxial complex oxides containing LaLuO3, LaYO3, LaAlO3 has been formed with a record interface quality and the heterogeneous integration has been realized. Using these complex oxides as gate dielectrics, the development of the state-of-the-art nanowire field-effect transistors has been pursued showing the complex oxide dielectrics with EOT of 1.2nm and the successful integration of these state-of-the-art dielectrics on nanowire devices with excellent interface. Through this two-year projects, the future development of this field will depend on the further devlopment of effective doping method during the solution-phase growth of complex metal oxide nanowires, which is still a major challenge today due to the "self-purification" of dopant in nanostructures.
