Technical Summary: Wide bandgap semiconductors, and in particular III-Ns and diamond, are emerging as a powerful force for innovation across a wide spectrum of science and technology. This breadth of potential is captured by the extraordinary diversity of the interdisciplinary team assembled for this proposal, with research interests ranging over 15 orders of magnitude in energy (from ~1 meV to ~ 1,000 TeV), 13 orders of magnitude in time (~ 100 fs to ~ 1 ms), and 11 orders of magnitude in length (from ~ 1 nm to ~ 10 cm). This diversity provides a unique and powerful opportunity, by optimizing a relatively modest set of material parameters: electron mobility, spin relaxation time, electron-hole recombination time and structural quality, it is possible to have a transformative impact across a truly broad front of leading edge research. This optimization will require the rapid development of these emerging materials, necessitating a tight coupling between high quality materials synthesis and precise materials characterization informed by a fundamental understanding of the science underlying these diverse applications. The collaborative network presented here, including the PIs and both on-site and off-site collaborators, posses the necessary expertise as well as the necessary infrastructure in materials characterization to exploit this unique opportunity; the only piece lacking is the appropriate infrastructure for materials synthesis. As a result, the acquisition of the hybrid diamond/III-N synthesis cluster tool proposed here will have an immediate impact on a wide spectrum of active research programs as well as providing interdisciplinary collaborations with the necessary infrastructure to successfully compete in this rapidly developing area of materials science. The proposed tool will consist of two growth chambers, one optimized for microwave-plasma chemical vapor deposition (MPCVD) of diamond films, and the other optimized for ammonia-based molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) of III-N epilayers. The chambers are linked by an air-free glove box and an ultra-high vacuum (UHV) transfer line, allowing for in situ sample transfer and high quality heterostructure growth. Finally, the diversity of this collaboration will lead directly to the training of graduate and undergraduate students who are optimally positioned to take advantage of increasingly interdisciplinary opportunities in both the academic and industrial workforce.
Layman Summary: The objective of this project is to establish a materials fabrication facility to investigate the properties of new nanoscale materials based on diamond and III-N semiconductors. Wide bandgap semiconductors, and in particular III-Ns and diamond, are emerging as a powerful force for innovation across a wide spectrum of science and technology. Research in this area will benefit industries including magnetoelectronics/spintronics, high-speed electronics, solid state lighting, photovoltaics, and energy-efficient transportation. This breadth of potential is captured by the extraordinary diversity of the interdisciplinary team assembled for this proposal, with affiliations including Materials Science and Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Condensed Matter Physics and High Energy Physics and research interests ranging over 15 orders of magnitude in energy, 13 orders of magnitude in time and 11 orders of magnitude in length. For example, this variation is equivalent to temperatures from 10° C above absolute zero to 1 million times hotter than the sun, the difference in time between 1 millionth of a second and the age of the earth and sizes ranging from several atoms to the size of a cell phone. As a consequence, the acquisition of the hybrid diamond/III-N synthesis cluster tool proposed here will have an immediate impact on a wide spectrum of active research programs, laying the groundwork for fundamental discoveries and new technology and providing training for graduate and undergraduate students in emerging interdisciplinary applications of fundamental materials science research.
