FLEET Enabling technology B — Nano-device fabrication
Specialised techniques are needed to integrate novel atomically thin materials into high-quality device structures with suitable performance. For example, atomically thin topological insulators will need to be integrated with electrical gates to realise topological transistors, and atomically thin semiconductors must be integrated with optical cavities to realise exciton-polariton condensate devices.
Nano-device fabrication news
Could long-distance interactions between individual molecules forge a new way to compute? Interactions between individual molecules on a metal surface extend for surprisingly large distances – up to several nanometers. A new study, just published, of the changing shape of electronic states induced by these interactions, has potential future application in the use of molecules as individually addressable units. For …
A new type of ultra-efficient, nano-thin material could advance self-powered electronics, wearable technologies and even deliver pacemakers powered by heart beats. The flexible and printable piezoelectric material, which can convert mechanical pressure into electrical energy, has been developed by an Australian research team led by RMIT. It is 100,000 times thinner than a human hair and 800% more efficient than …
“Stripy zebra, spotty leopard, …”. Kids never become bored pinpointing animals based on their unique body patterns. While it is fascinating that living creatures develop distinct patterns on their skin, what may be even more mysterious is their striking similarity to the skin of frozen liquid metals. Pattern formation is a classic example of one of nature’s wonders that scientists …
Moore’s law is an empirical suggestion describing that the number of transistors doubles every few years in integrated circuits (ICs). However, Moore’s law has started to fail as transistors are now so small that the current silicon-based technologies are unable to offer further opportunities for shrinking. One possibility of overcoming Moore’s law is to resort to two-dimensional semiconductors. These two-dimensional materials …
International collaboration reviews future data-storage technology that steps ‘beyond binary’, storing more data than just 0s and 1s Electronic data is being produced at a breath-taking rate. The total amount of data stored in data centres around the globe is of the order of ten zettabytes (a zettabyte is a trillion gigabytes), and we estimate that amount doubles every couple …
Interlayer coupling in vdW material Fe3GeTe2 successfully increased by insertion of protons A Chinese-Australian collaboration has demonstrated for the first time that interlayer coupling in a van der Waals (vdW) material can be largely modulated by a protonic gate, which inject protons to devices from an ionic solid. The discovery opens the way to exciting new uses of vdW materials, …
Record output power obtained from piezoelectric, atomically-thin material Remarkable synthesis advance for materials such as tin-monosulfide (group IV monochalcogenides), which are predicted to exhibit strong piezoelectricity Potential materials for future wearable electronics and other motion-powered, energy-harvesting devices RMIT-UNSW collaboration applies liquid-metal synthesis to piezoelectrics, advancing future flexible, wearable electronics, and biosensors drawing their power from the body’s movements. Materials such …
FLEET CI Professor Kourosh Kalantar-zadeh (UNSW Sydney) has been awarded the prestigious 2020 Robert Boyle Prize for Analytical Science by The Royal Society of Chemistry. Prof Kalantar-zadeh is recognised for his significant influence across multiple fields of engineering. Contributions to society coming from his research across multiple disciplines include new innovative pollution sensors, transistors, medical devices and optical systems. Many …
For the first time, FLEET researchers at UNSW, Sydney show the synthesis of ultra-thin graphitic materials at room temperature using organic fuels (which can be as simple as basic alcohols such as ethanol). Graphitic materials, such as graphene, are ultra-thin sheets of carbon compounds that are sought after materials with great promises for battery storage, solar cells, touch panels and …
Phonon-polaritons in layered crystals have peculiar properties where they occur at the boundary between materials. In a new study led from UNSW, phonon-polaritons were studied in thin-layer hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) by combined scattering-type scanning near-field optical microscopy (s-SNOM) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Prof Kourosh Kalantar-zadeh’s multidisciplinary group at UNSW combined scattering-SNOM single-wavelength imaging and broadband scattering IR …
Researchers have developed an ultra-thin and ultra-flexible electronic material, able to be printed and rolled out like newspaper, for the touchscreens of the future. The touch-responsive technology is 100 times thinner than existing touchscreen materials and so pliable it can be rolled up like a tube. To create the new conductive sheet, an RMIT University-led team used a thin film …
• RMIT–UNSW collaboration combines theory, experimental expertise • ‘Spintronic’ applications promise faster, more efficient computing • New magnetic properties of 2D Fe3GeTe2 (FGT) discovered A theoretical–experimental collaboration across two FLEET nodes has discovered new magnetic properties within 2D structures, with exciting potential for researchers in the emerging field of ‘spintronics’. Spintronic devices use a quantum property known as ‘spin’, in …
Molybdenum based compounds could provide key to hydrogen production for future zero-emissions energy RMIT/Monash collaboration opens promising route towards alkaline hydrogen production A FLEET study combining experimental expertise at RMIT with theoretical modelling at Monash University opens a new route towards efficient, cost-effective production of hydrogen. Researchers discovered that ammonium-doped, hexagonal molybdenum oxide (MoO3) displays extremely promising electronic and material …
Dr Julie Karel conducts research at the intersection of materials science and condensed matter physics to develop new materials for emerging low-energy nanoelectronic and magnetoelectronic devices. Originally from the US, Julie developed new thermal interface materials to improve mobile-device performance at Intel, and was a postdoctoral researcher at the Max Planck Institute in Germany. In materials design, Julie uses complete …
An international team led by researchers from Soochow University (Suzhou, China), Monash University (Melbourne, Australia), University of Oviedo (Asturias, Spain), and CIC nanoGUNE (San Sebastián, Spain) have discovered squeezed light (‘nanolight’) in the nanoscale that propagates only in specific directions along thin slabs of molybdenum trioxide – a natural anisotropic 2D material. Besides its unique directional character, this nanolight lives …
First ever large-scale 2D surface deposition of piezoelectric material Simple, inexpensive technique opens new fields for piezo-sensors & energy harvesting Researchers have developed a revolutionary method to ‘print’ large-scale sheets of two dimensional piezoelectric material, opening new opportunities for piezo-sensors and energy harvesting. Importantly, the inexpensive process allows the integration of piezoelectric components directly onto silicon chips. Until now, no …
FLEET RMIT—UNSW collaboration measuring transport properties of van der Waals heterostructures FLEET PhD Cheng Tan (RMIT) visited UNSW’s labs in May to perform magnetic coupling measurements on 2D ferromagnetic crystals. The visit was reciprocated this month with FLEET Research Fellow Feixiang Xiang (UNSW) visiting RMIT to construct van der Waals structures for studying of 2D topological systems. This collaboration between …
The unusual electronic and magnetic properties of van der Waals (vdW) materials, made up of many ‘stacked’ 2D layers, offer potential for future electronics, including spintronics. In a recent study, FLEET researchers at RMIT found that one promising candidate material, Fe3GeTe2 (FGT), fits the bill – provided it’s created in layers only 200 millionths of a millimetre in thickness. This …
FLEET-nano collaboration recognised: Congratulations to Qiaoliang Bao, 2018 ANFF-VIC Technology Fellow Qiaoliang Bao works at the nanoscale, trapping photons in atomically-thin, two-dimensional materials, where high binding energies create a quantum state known as a superfluid. The aim is a new generation of superfluid transistors that will ‘switch’ using much less energy than conventional electronics. Such work requires access to the …
“Endless” possibilities for custom nanotech design FLEET’s research to achieve zero-dissipation electrical current depends on the design of key nanoscale structures. Within FLEET, nano-device fabrication is coordinated via Enabling technology B, which links each of the research themes. In 2017, Theme B leader Lan Wang, and PhD student Cheng Tan, developed a method to build such nanoscale structures, required to achieve zero-dissipation …
Kourosh Kalantar-zadeh’s ingestible smart pill could revolutionise prevention and diagnosis of gut disorders/disease, and make a significant difference to the health of as many as one in five Australians who suffer gut disorders. This month the technology won the prestigious 2017 IEEE Sensors Council achievement award in the field of sensors. Read more at RMIT. At RMIT,Prof Kalantar-zadeh is Director …
FLEET features in this month’s annual ‘nano’ edition of the Australian Manufacturing Tech magazine. The article looks at growth of atomically thin and other novel materials and nanofabrication, with a particular focus on partnerships. Atomically thin material projects presented include semiconductor fabrication at RMIT University (Lan Wang) and the University of Wollongong (Xiaoliang Wang) and molecular beam epitaxy (Mark Edmonds …
The future of ultra-low resistance semiconductor junctions in novel low-energy electronics is looking good after a recent study took a very close look at band alignment. FLEET is using two-dimensional materials in the search for new electronics devices that will carry electrical current without losing the significant energy dissipated in current, silicon technology. The new electronic devices developed at FLEET …
Researchers in Enabling technology B – Nano-device fabrication
