MRI: Acquisition of Instrumentation for the Production and Characterization of Epitaxial Graphite on Silicon Carbide

Georgia Tech Research Corporation, Atlanta GA

Investigators

Abstract

This award is for the acquisition of instrumentation for the production and characterization of ultrathin films of epitaxial graphite (EG, "epitaxial graphene"). This material is essential for the nanopatterned epitaxial graphene (NPEG) project, led by researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology (GIT). The NPEG project is a multidisciplinary research program to explore the properties of EG and NPEG grown on chips of single crystal SiC. Unlike nanotubes, seamlessly-interconnected, functional NPEG devices could be fabricated via rational patterning of a planar EG substrate, obviating the need for metal interconnects on the wafer. Thus, the NPEG approach to graphitic nanoelectronics could remove many of the obstacles faced by carbon nanotubes, while retaining the benefits of high carrier mobility and quasi-1D transport. Active outreach programs involved in the NPEG project - and facilitated by the instrumentation - include the Georgia Intern-Fellowships for Teachers program (K-12 teachers) and the GIT College of Sciences Faculty Development Program (faculty from non-research institutions, with typically high proportions of underrepresented groups). The program also will involve undergraduate students through the NSF-REU program, including a faculty-directed undergraduate research program at the State University of West Georgia. Also, through participation in the GIT NanoScience and Technology (NaST) certificate program, PIs and participating faculty will inject recent research results directly into specialized graduate and undergraduate courses.