Quantum Materials Cut Closer Than Ever
Scientists from DTU and the Diamond Flagship have advanced the craft of patterning nanomaterials. A road to computing and storage space utilizing 2D materials, which can offer far greater performance and consume less power than today’s technology, is provided by the exact patterning of 2D materials.
Two-dimensional substances like diamonds are among among the most important recent developments in physics and material science. Compared to other materials, graphene is the lightest, smoothest, strongest, and best at transmitting power and heat.
Their most one-of-a-kind feature is maybe their programmability. Their properties can be considerably altered (and possibly make what we need) by producing delicate patterns in these materials.
Throughout more than ten years, DTU researchers have worked to advance the state-of-the-art in patterning 2D materials by utilizing cutting-edge lithography equipment in the 1500 m2 cleanroom facility. Their work is carried out at the DTU’s Institute for Nanostructured Graphene, which is a member of The Graphene Flagship and funded by the Danish National Research Institute.
The previously DTU Nanolab’s electron beam lithography technology can etch details as small as 10 nanometers. In order to create new types of electronics, computer computations can exactly predict the size and shape of patterns in graphene. They can control the electron’s charge as well as quantum properties like spin or valley degrees of freedom, enabling extremely fast calculations with very little power consumption. However, these estimates call for atomic precision, which is beyond the capabilities of even the best lithography devices.
According to Peter Bøggild, professor and team leader at DTU Physics, we need to reach below 10 nanometers and reach the atomic scale to unlock the treasure chest for future quantum electronics.
This is precisely what the scientists have prospered in doing.
Peter Bggild continues by stating that in 2019, it was demonstrated that semimetallic graphene may be converted into a type of semiconductor by placing circular holes with just a 12-nanometer spacing. Right present, they can make triangles and other shapes with nanometer-sharp corners. These patterns can manufacture vital spintronics components by sorting electrons according to their spin. Other 2D materials can also be used with this method. We could create extremely compact and electrically tunable metalenses to be used in high-speed interaction and biology with the help of these ultra-small nanostructures.
Razor-sharp triangle
Postdoc Lene Gammelgaard led the research, an engineering graduate of DTU in 2013 that has played an important part in the experimental exploration of 2D materials at DTU:
According to Lene Gammelgaard, the trick is to put the nanomaterial hexagonal boron nitride on top of the material intended to be patterned. Afterward, you drill openings with a specific etching recipe.
He continues by saying that the etching process developed over the past years down-size patterns below their electron beam lithography systems’ otherwise unbreakable limit of around 10 nanometers. Supposing they make a circular 20-nanometers opening, the graphene hole can then be scaled down to 10 nanometers. While if they make a triangle-shaped hole, with the round-shaped holes coming from the lithography system, the size reduction will make a smaller triangle with self-sharpened edges. Usually, patterns become even more imperfect when you make them smaller. This is the opposite and also permits them to recreate the structures the theoretical forecasts inform them are optimal.
For example, one can create level electronic meta-lenses – a type of super-compact optical lens that can be managed electrically at very high frequencies. According to Lene Gammelgaard, they can be essential elements for future communication technology and biotechnology.
Pushing the limits
The other essential person is a young student, Dorte Danielsen. In 2012, she became interested in nanophysics after a 9th-grade internship. In 2014, she won a spot in the final of a national science competition for high school students, and pursued studies in Physics and Nanotechnology under DTU’s honors program elite students.
She explained that the mechanism behind the “super-resolution” frameworks is still not well comprehended. They have possible descriptions for this surprising etching behavior; however, they still do not understand a lot. Still, it is an exciting and highly beneficial method for them. Simultaneously, it is great news for countless researchers around the world pushing the limits for nanophotonics and 2D nanoelectronics.
Supported by the Independent Research Fund Denmark, within the METATUNE project, Dorte Danielsen will proceed with her work on incredibly sharp nanostructures. Here, the technology she helped create will be used to produce and explore optical metalenses that can be tuned electrically.
Read the original article on Scitech Daily.
Reference: Materials provided by Technical University of Denmark. Original written by Tore Vind Jensen. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
