ERI: Leveraging 2D Ferroelectric Semiconductors Towards Acoustoelectric Circulators

University Of Vermont & State Agricultural College, Burlington VT

Investigators

Abstract

As the scale of computing and wireless communication continues to grow, energy consumption from these applications has grown faster than the installation of new energy generation capacity. The parallel growth in the number of wireless devices has also led to congestion of the wireless frequency bands that information is sent over, reducing connection speeds in busy areas. The goal of this project is to investigate and benchmark a new material, alpha-In2Se3, to make wireless devices that can transmit and receive simultaneously, improving efficiency. This material can efficiently convert electrical to mechanical energy (and vice-versa) and its electrical properties can be tuned, allowing for electrical amplification of traveling mechanical vibrations. The project will study three things towards this goal: 1) What are the best methods for working with this relatively new material for this application? 2) How can properties of the material be improved through careful engineering of materials it interacts with? 3) How does the material compare to other materials that are being researched for similar applications? The work performed will highlight diverse applications of semiconductors to local students, integrating with parallel efforts at UVM to build a strong workforce for the national semiconductor industry. Recent work has highlighted the promise of acoustoelectric amplifiers for on-chip magnetic-free circulators. This work will study the potential of alpha-In2Se3, a ferroelectric semiconductor, for fabrication of these devices by: 1) Developing a thorough understanding of alpha-In2Se3 exfoliation techniques, allowing for rapid study of the material and its mechanical and electrical properties. 2) Maximizing electron mobility through heterostructure fabrication, improving acoustoelectric device performance. 3) Surveying acoustoelectric device structures utilizing In2Se3 through analytical calculation and finite element analysis, identifying optimal theoretical structures as well as experimental bottlenecks that must be addressed while comparing the material to alternative technologies and acoustoelectric amplifier heterostructures. The microfabrication processes created under this grant will be used to highlight the opportunity of micro-electro-mechanical-systems in the developing multidisciplinary semiconductor engineering and physics certificate at UVM, attracting and training a more diverse semiconductor workforce. 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.