Stretching diamond for next-generation microelectronics

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Stretching diamond for next-generation microelectronics -- ScienceDaily

本文

Science  01 Jan 2021:
Vol. 371, Issue 6524, pp. 76-78
DOI: 10.1126/science.abc4174

“Achieving large uniform tensile elasticity in microfabricated diamond”

nanotechnology / chemistry / electronics

Diamond is the hardest material in nature. But out of many expectations, it also has great potential as an excellent electronic material. A joint research team led by City University of Hong Kong (CityU) has demonstrated for the first time the large, uniform tensile elastic straining of microfabricated diamond arrays through the nanomechanical approach. Their findings have shown the potential of strained diamonds as prime candidates for advanced functional devices in microelectronics, photonics, and quantum information technologies.

This is the first time showing the extremely large, uniform elasticity of diamond by tensile experiments.

Well known for its hardness, industrial applications of diamonds are usually cutting, drilling, or grinding. But diamond is also considered as a high-performance electronic and photonic material due to its ultra-high thermal conductivity, exceptional electric charge carrier mobility, high breakdown strength and ultra-wide bandgap. Bandgap is a key property in semi-conductor.

However, the large bandgap and tight crystal structure of diamond make it difficult to "dope," a common way to modulate the semi-conductors' electronic properties during production, hence hampering the diamond's industrial application in electronic and optoelectronic devices.

A potential alternative is by "strain engineering," that is to apply very large lattice strain. But it was considered as "impossible" for diamond due to its extremely high hardness.

Then in 2018, Dr Lu and his collaborators discovered that nanoscale diamond can be elastically bent with unexpected large local strain.

The team firstly microfabricated single-crystalline diamond samples from a solid diamond single crystals. The samples were in bridge-like shape -- about one micrometre long and 300 nanometres wide, with both ends wider for gripping. The diamond bridges were then uniaxially stretched in a well-controlled manner within an electron microscope. the diamond bridges demonstrated a highly uniform, large elastic deformation of about 7.5% strain across the whole gauge section of the specimen, and they recovered their original shape after unloading. also, The simulation results indicated that the bandgap of diamond generally decreased as the tensile strain increased.

microfabrication: 微細加工

These findings are an early step in achieving deep elastic strain engineering of microfabricated diamonds. By nanomechanical approach, the team demonstrated that the diamond's band structure can be changed.

ポイント

・ダイヤモンドはなぜ固い

・ダイヤモンドの可能性

・ダイヤモンドを延ばすには

・ダイヤモンドが伸びると何に役立つ

・ナノテクノロジーでできることは

シリコンは半導体材料として広く普及しているがその特性には上限がある。この限界を超える潜在能力を秘めているのがダイヤモンドである。 

 微細加工10ns以下の半導体製造プロセスについて大きな壁が立ちふさがっていることは誰でも知っている。とりわけ露光装置については、これまでの延長線上で行かれないとされており、EUVなど様々な次世代装置の開発が進められているものの、いまだブレークスルーは見られない。微細化限界を超えなければウエアラブル端末、ヘルスケア端末、さらにはM2Mに代表される長距離かつ高周波の無線通信の時代も見えてはこないのだ。ダイヤモンドの高周波特性は素晴らしい。しかも電子の移動度については現在のシリコンに比べて超高速なのだ。