Title: NIST Discloses Methods for Uniformly Charging Nanocrystals at Large Areas
NIST researchers have developed innovative methods for uniformly charging nanocrystals across large areas. These methods enable the formation of structurally uniform metal interfaces, including metal-semiconductor and semiconductor-semiconductor, which is crucial for creating nanodevices with identical electro-optical properties on very large scales.
The disclosed techniques involve facet-selective passivation of nanocrystals and facet-selective charge injection. These methods have significant implications for the fabrication of high-performance nanoscale devices such as light emitting diodes, lasers, and transistors. The invention demonstrates how uniform interfaces can be formed with similar electro-optical properties and shows how to selectively choose a nanocrystal facet for metallization or overgrowth with other semiconductors.
The methods address the challenges associated with the limited scale production of second and third-generation semiconductor technologies and devices. The disclosed method has no physical limitations and enables the risk of large-scale production of nanoscale devices to be mitigated. This is particularly important for the production of nanoelectronics with features under 12nm, which is only economically viable and affordable in massive production platforms using highly advanced lithography machines. The disclosed methods do not require high-resolution lithography and are therefore low-cost, while also enabling high-throughput manufacturing – two important features for early-stage technology developers or industries with a growing market.
Source: https://www.nist.gov/patents/methods-electrically-charging-nanocrystals-very-large-areas
Keywords: nanodevices, nanocrystals, electro-optical properties
