NanoTechnology: Materials, Processes & Devices

Tellurium has a one-dimensional atomic structure that favors anisotropic electronic properties. Thermally evaporated tellurium has intrigued renewed interest in nanoscale electronics due to its near ambient crystallization, featuring single crystal orientation in micro-sized domain. Here we aim to study the performance limits of tellurium thin film transistors as we scale them to single grain domains. This will allow us to test the performance limits of tellurium transistors and pave the way for its viability for integration with standard silicon processes.

Project...

Silicon, a mature platform of modern semiconductor technology, is also emerging as a versatile host for quantum and nanoscale systems. In addition to its low-loss and low-noise properties, silicon can host defects that provide localized states with rich electronic and mechanical responses. In this project, we investigate defect-mediated electromechanical coupling in silicon, where lattice imperfections act as active media connecting electrical and vibrational degrees of freedom. By fabricating high-quality mechanical and superconducting resonators on silicon, we probe how defects influence...

Chemiresistive gas sensors based on semiconductor metal oxides, such as tin oxide (SnO₂), play a critical role in detecting toxic gases and monitoring pollution in industrial and environmental applications. Siloxanes, organic compounds that contain silicon and oxygen atoms and are widely used in personal care products, are commonly present in various environments. The presence of these compounds can significantly degrade sensor performance by modifying the oxide surface, altering its gas adsorption properties, and reducing both sensitivity and selectivity in gas sensing. To address this...

Surface tension plays an important role in miniaturized systems as the scaling law favors its relative significance over other forces such as gravity, magnetic, and structural stiffness. As such, surface tension effects have induced process issues in microfabrication such as stiction but also provided opportunities in using the surface tension to drive microdevices, such as those based on electrowetting-on-dielectric (EWOD), electrocapillary, and continuous electrowetting (CEW) mechanism, … etc. In this project, we exploit the giant outputs by the switching of surface tension...