Nanofabrication and Devices
When confined on nanometer length scale, the behavior of electrons changes dramatically, due both to the increased kinetic energy from quantum confinement and the potential energy from Coulomb interactions. The modification of these two fundamental forces has numerous ramifications. Further, the relative importance of the two competing contributions to the energy can be controlled by varying the size and shape of the nanostructure, giving rise to a wealth of intriguing new and unexplored physical phenomena.
Usually, new and distinct physical and chemical properties of matter emerge when the structure size of the material becomes comparable to the mean-free path of the electrons or the scattering length-scale of phonons. At room temperature, their typical lengths are ranging from several nanometers to hundreds of nanometers. To achieve arbitrary structure on this length scale, one needs to employ nanolithography. Nanolithography is widely used during the fabrication of leading-edge semiconductor integrated circuit or nano-electromechanical systems. As of now, nanolithography is a very active area of research in academia and in industry, aiming to achieve smaller structures with novel functions in new materials.
When confined on nanometer length scale, the behavior of electrons changes dramatically, due both to the increased kinetic energy from quantum confinement and the potential energy from Coulomb interactions. The modification of these two fundamental forces has numerous ramifications. Further, the relative importance of the two competing contributions to the energy can be controlled by varying the size and shape of the nanostructure, giving rise to a wealth of intriguing new and unexplored physical phenomena.
Usually, new and distinct physical and chemical properties of matter emerge when the structure size of the material becomes comparable to the mean-free path of the electrons or the scattering length-scale of phonons. At room temperature, their typical lengths are ranging from several nanometers to hundreds of nanometers. To achieve arbitrary structure on this length scale, one needs to employ nanolithography. Nanolithography is widely used during the fabrication of leading-edge semiconductor integrated circuit or nano-electromechanical systems. As of now, nanolithography is a very active area of research in academia and in industry, aiming to achieve smaller structures with novel functions in new materials.
Related publications:
- “Patterning Graphene with Zigzag Edges by Self-Aligned Anisotropic Etching”, Advanced Materials, 23(27), 3061 (2011).
- Studies of Graphene-based Nanoelectromechanical Switches”, Nano Research, 5(2), 82 (2012).
- Graphene Edge Lithography, Nano Letters, 12 (9), 4642–4646, (2012).
- Multilevel Resistive Switching in Planar Graphene/SiO2 Nanogap Structures, ACS Nano, 6(5), 4214-4221.
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