Collaborative Research: Tailoring Electron and Spin Transport in Single Molecule Junctions

合作研究：定制单分子结中的电子和自旋输运

• 批准号: 2225370
• 负责人: Manuel Smeu
• 金额: $ 19.5万
• 依托单位: SUNY at Binghamton
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-03-01 至 2026-02-28
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2225370&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Tailoring; Electron; Spin

Non-technical DescriptionThe growth of the information economy and the rising importance of artificial intelligence are driving a need for dramatically increased computing power. Such demands cannot be met at the required pace using existing semiconductor technologies. In addition, energy requirements to power the massive increase in computing and data storage may present a serious limitation to how much and how fast information can be processed. New energy-efficient technologies are therefore urgently needed. This research project brings together a team with combined expertise in theory, synthesis, and advanced characterization. The team will design and synthesize novel molecules and develop new characterization methods in order to pave the way to electronic devices that operate at the ultimate size limit of single molecules. This research will enable efficient charge flow and switching in single molecules and allow for the creation of high-density low-power electronics. The investigators will further demonstrate how quantum phenomena can be used in single molecule devices to encode information in new and efficient ways, and to minimize power consumption in high-density molecular arrays. The research team will train undergraduate and graduate students from underrepresented groups, educate future scientific leaders from traditionally underserved rural and urban communities, and involve veterans who transition from the armed services into higher education.Technical DescriptionDespite extensive research to understand quantum transport in single molecule electronic devices, a predictive and generalizable molecular-level understanding of how to systematically tailor charge- and spin-transport through molecules is still missing. The emergence of such an understanding is hampered by the complex many-body interactions at the molecule-electrode interface and the wide variation of different molecular constructs investigated. The proposed theory-driven research addresses this challenge by i) systematically varying the organic semiconductor framework to tailor the combined molecule/electrode system, to capture the outsized influence of interfacial interactions on energy level alignment and hence conductance in single molecule junctions; and ii) seeking to significantly enhance charge-transport or to create pathways towards spin-polarized current using systematically designed all-organic radicals. Insights from the proposed research provide new design rules for controlling charge-flow in single molecules and across molecule-electrode interfaces at will. Investigators will also develop key principles that enable the flow of spin-current without the need for ferromagnetic electrodes. These issues are fundamental themes in the materials science of organic semiconductors that transcend the specific classes of molecules and the specific challenges of quantum transport in single molecules. They pertain to the field of organic electronics more broadly, encompassing molecular and thin film organic electronics. The synergistic research, combining synthesis of new materials, materials by design and characterization at the single molecule limit, lays the foundation for improved energy-efficiency in high-performance computing and data analysis, which ultimately enables new information processing modalities with potentially unprecedented impact on US manufacturing.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.

非技术描述信息经济的增长和人工智能的重要性日益提高，推动了对计算能力大幅提高的需求。使用现有的半导体技术无法以所需的速度满足此类需求。此外，为计算和数据存储的大量增加提供动力的能源需求可能会对信息的处理量和速度造成严重限制。因此迫切需要新的节能技术。该研究项目汇集了一支在理论、合成和高级表征方面具有综合专业知识的团队。该团队将设计和合成新型分子并开发新的表征方法，以便为在单分子最终尺寸限制下运行的电子设备铺平道路。这项研究将实现单分子中的高效电荷流动和切换，并允许创建高密度低功耗电子产品。研究人员将进一步演示如何在单分子设备中使用量子现象，以新的有效方式编码信息，并最大限度地减少高密度分子阵列的功耗。该研究团队将培训来自弱势群体的本科生和研究生，教育传统上服务不足的农村和城市社区的未来科学领袖，并吸收从武装部队过渡到高等教育的退伍军人。技术描述尽管进行了大量研究以了解单分子电子中的量子输运对于如何通过分子系统地调整电荷和自旋传输的预测性和可推广的分子水平理解仍然缺乏。这种理解的出现受到分子-电极界面上复杂的多体相互作用以及所研究的不同分子结构的广泛变化的阻碍。所提出的理论驱动研究通过以下方式解决了这一挑战：i）系统地改变有机半导体框架以定制组合的分子/电极系统，以捕获界面相互作用对能级排列以及单分子结电导的巨大影响； ii) 寻求使用系统设计的全有机基团显着增强电荷传输或创建通向自旋极化电流的途径。拟议研究的见解提供了新的设计规则，用于随意控制单分子中以及跨分子电极界面的电荷流。研究人员还将开发无需铁磁电极即可实现自旋电流流动的关键原理。这些问题是有机半导体材料科学的基本主题，超越了特定类别的分子和单​​分子量子传输的特定挑战。它们更广泛地属于有机电子领域，包括分子和薄膜有机电子。协同研究将新材料的合成、设计材料和单分子极限表征相结合，为提高高性能计算和数据分析的能源效率奠定了基础，最终使新的信息处理模式成为可能，对人类产生前所未有的影响。美国制造业。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。