NSF-BSF: The Hard-Soft Interface -- Integrating 2D Semiconductors with Functional Polymers for Nanoscale Optoelectronics

University Of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst MA

Investigators

Abstract

Nontechnical description: Two-dimensional (2D) materials are a class of crystalline materials composed of extremely thin sheets (one or a few atoms in thickness) with the potential to create smaller and faster electronic and optical devices. However, since existing methods for preparing such devices are not suitable for 2D materials, new approaches must be discovered that promote their easy integration into device constructs. This project studies 2D materials that are coated with polymers, which can be applied with extreme precision to manipulate the physical and electronic properties at specific locations. This promotes inexpensive, large-scale fabrication of electronic and optical devices within single sheets of 2D materials, enabling applications in low-power, nanoscale electronic and optical devices, including wearable and conformable devices. This project includes summer research opportunities for middle and high school students as well as recruitment and mentoring of underrepresented minority students at UMass Amherst, and outreach to the community in Western Massachusetts. US-Israel scientific collaborations are enhanced by graduate students exchanges between partner institutions. Technical Description: A major challenge in harnessing 2D materials for optoelectronic devices arises from limited avenues for exercising precise control over charge carrier concentrations (doping). This project focuses on Mo and W transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) with the goal of modulating their optoelectronic properties through novel interfacial chemistries that are more straightforward and robust to implement than direct substitutional doping of the TMDC itself. An integrated theory-synthesis-characterization approach facilitates rational design and application of organochalcogen- and dipole-rich functional polymers for precise, spatially-targeted control over carrier doping, work functions, and band gaps of TMDCs. This hard-soft, 2D materials platform, enables the preparation of optoelectronic devices such as photodiodes, transistors, and inverters - key building blocks of digital electronics - fabricated within 2D monolayers using methods that are scalable and compatible with existing semiconductor technology. Fundamental advances in the development of polymer-TMDC semiconductors project far-reaching impact on optoelectronic devices, enabling technologies in computing, data storage, and consumer electronics. The research program is integrated with formative summer research opportunities for undergraduates from minority-serving institutions, as well as local middle- and high-school students, thereby nurturing the next generation of materials scientists and engineers. Researchers also deliver informal lectures to the broader public in Western Massachusetts to kindle interest in the emerging field of 2D materials. US-Israel scientific collaborations are enhanced by graduate students exchanges between partner institutions. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.