Funds from this proposal will be used to purchase state-of-the-art instruments for the manufacture of nanocrystalline silicon materials at the University of Rochester (UR). Nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si) materials are being fabricated in support of multiple active projects including the development of silicon-based lasers and the production of ultrathin nanoporous membranes. The nanoporous membranes are proving useful for a variety of applications including membrane filters for biomolecule separations, cell culture substrates, and fuel cells. Specifically, this award will be used to acquire modern Thin Film Deposition and Rapid Thermal Processing (RTP) Systems to replace less precise systems nearing end-of-life. Nanocrystalline silicon materials are created by thermally inducing crystallization in thin films of amorphous silicon (a-Si). Pores are naturally created under certain annealing conditions in a-Si layers that are 25 nm or thinner. Crystallization dynamics follow an Arrhenius rate law and both crystal size and pore size depend on the heating profile as well as film thickness and quality. Thus precise control over deposition and heating rates are needed to reproducibly produce materials with particular characteristics and to systematically explore the range of characteristics possible for nc-Si materials. The new systems will be housed within a 2000 sq. ft. class 1000 clean room planned for the University's new Integrated Nanoscience Center. The center will centralize all equipment and processes important to the fabrication and characterization of nc-Si materials. These include devices for photolithography, furnaces, chemical/cleaning benches, and optical, electron, and atomic force microscopes. Currently, several of these resources, including the existing RTP system, are located at distant, off-campus facilities. Thus the purchase of the new instruments and their location in the new center are expected to dramatically improve the efficiency of nc-Si research at the UR. The new instruments will be used by UR trainees and by visiting students and post-doctoral working under multi-university grants. All the resources assembled in the Integrated Nanoscience Center will be used to support undergraduate and graduate level courses in Nanotechnology educational programs being developed at UR.
Research on nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si) materials has been conducted at the University of Rochester (UR) for more than a decade. Until recently, this research has been exclusively focused on the development of nc-Si materials for silicon-based lasers. The successful creation of a laser on a silicon chip would provide for optical communication in computers that dramatically lowers power requirements while improving storage capacity. Recently, a modification of nc-Si fabrication procedures led to the discovery of an ultrathin nanoporous membrane with applications ranging from the purification of molecules to charge separation in fuel cells. The funds provided by this award will be used to purchase state-of-the-art versions of the two main instruments required for nc-Si material fabrication: 1) a Thin Film Deposition system, and 2) a Rapid Thermal Processing Unit. The new instruments will provide the precision needed to systematically explore the range of nc-Si properties possible, and to reproducibly create nc-Si materials with specific characteristics. The instruments will be housed in the UR's new Integrated Nanoscience Center along with all other equipment needed for nc-Si manufacturing. The instruments and the center will support multi-disciplinary research at UR and collaborating Universities and will be used by new courses in Nanotechnology at both the undergraduate and graduate level.
