Non-Technical: Discovering new materials and learning how to harvest their properties are among the most important activities for advancing our society. Over the past six decades, the advent of semiconductors in particular, has dramatically changed the ways in which we compute, communicate and learn. Still, we long for opto- and electronics that are even more energy-efficient, compact, flexible and convenient. New materials drive novel applications, and innovative devices demand creative materials research. This bidirectional thinking is epitomized in this EFRI 2-DARE project. The material system of choice is 2-dimensional (2D) layered materials. Vigorous investigations in the research laboratories will result in high quality student training, enrich our knowledge to improve teaching in the classroom, and lead to innovations that drive the progress of society. The leadership embodied in the research, teaching, mentoring, service, outreach activities in this project in turn better prepares the next generation of the STEM work force.
The rapid and recent advances in graphene, a single sheet of carbon atoms arranged in a two-dimensional (2D) honeycomb crystal, have raised tantalizing questions for other examples of 2D materials that might have distinct and useful properties. "The rich variety of properties that 2D layer materials offer can potentially be engineered on demand, and they create exciting prospects for applications such as in electronics, sensing, photonics, flexible electronics, energy harvesting and storage, thermal management, mechanical structures, catalysis, and bio-engineering in the future," (NSF EFRI-2014 program solicitation). In this proposal, the aim is to educate the next generation of scientists and engineers to address the grand challenges in energy, where an interdisciplinary team with complimentary expertise will use an integrated approach for research and outreach. Based on the rapid progress made by the PIs in the 2D layered materials and heterostructure growth by molecular beam epitaxy, this EFRI team proposes transformative approaches to control electronic doping and heterostructure formation with monolayer precision. Based on the resulting materials, the team will also explore theoretically and experimentally the following three device themes. 1) Beyond CMOS switches: searching for correlated effects. This represents a fundamental departure from the conventional electronic switch mechanism. If successful, not only will the basic science in correlated electron systems be advanced, but this will also lead to more energy efficient switches, which addresses an urgent national need and grand challenge. 2) Gated RF oscillators: exploring charge density waves. This also represents a fundamental departure from the conventional RF sources. Gated charge density waves promises a tunable RF source over an extremely wide bandwidth in the terahertz frequency region, which is a critical element in closing the THz technology gap. 3) Gated thermoelectric batteries: investigating thermoelectric properties of 2D crystals. The TMD materials have a unique combination of low thermal conductivity and high electrical conductivity. Their 2D nature also provides an ideal platform to investigate 2D thermoelectric effects.
