Microscopy of Electrostatic Field Effect in Novel Quantum Materials (Final Report)
In this DOE Early Career project “Microscopy of Electrostatic Field Effect in Novel Quantum Materials”, the PI’s group explored the nanoscale electronic properties when charge carriers are electrostatically modulated in functional materials. Using a microwave impedance microscope (MIM), the team probed the spatial evolution of local conductivity in various field-effect transistors (FETs) ranging from traditional metal-oxide-semiconductor FETs, sketched oxide-interface FETs, to ferroelectric FETs and electric double-layer transistors (EDLTs). Specifically, the work has led to a deep understanding on the electrical inhomogeneity and conductive edge channels in atomically thin transition metal dichalcogenides and their heterostructures, which is of fundamental importance for their applications in electronics and photonics. The unique sub-surface imaging capability also enables the first-time report of ferroelectric field effect on Ge substrates due to the polarization switching of an epitaxial BaTiO3 layer, as well as the visualization of sketched nanostructures in the LaAlO3/SrTiO3 interface. Using a cryogenic MIM, the local channel conductance in ion-gel-gated oxide EDLTs has been successfully imaged, resolving a major challenge in the EDLT research to study electronic fluctuations in the devices. Finally, a new tuning-fork-based MIM has been developed to perform quantitative conductivity imaging on back-gated FETs. The research supported by this DOE grant is significant for understanding the nanoscale uniformity in technologically important materials towards energy applications.
- Research Organization:
- Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Materials Sciences & Engineering Division (MSE)
- DOE Contract Number:
- SC0010308
- OSTI ID:
- 1505896
- Report Number(s):
- DOE-UT Austin-10308
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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