Atomistic anatomy of a nano transistor. The high-speed and low-power requirements of state-of-the-art transistors are met by material control that has reached an unprecedented level. The material in a nano-device has drastically different characteristics than in the bulk. To achieve this, the industry needs to implement strain, ultra sharp junctions, and well controlled potential profiles all on the nanometre scale. This project aims to develop a technique to directly measure these properties in ....Atomistic anatomy of a nano transistor. The high-speed and low-power requirements of state-of-the-art transistors are met by material control that has reached an unprecedented level. The material in a nano-device has drastically different characteristics than in the bulk. To achieve this, the industry needs to implement strain, ultra sharp junctions, and well controlled potential profiles all on the nanometre scale. This project aims to develop a technique to directly measure these properties in an actual device. Electrical and optical atom tomography will make it possible to map device parameters on the atomic scale. This atomistic anatomy has the potential to revolutionise the development of nanoscale devices and grow into a tool for a multi-billion dollar industry.Read moreRead less
Non-precious fuel cell cathode catalysts from carbon-based nanohybrids: a computational to experimental quest. This joint computational-experimental project will address significant problems including high cost, limited availability and poor performance in traditional platinum-based fuel cell technology. The outcomes are expected to help address global energy problems through the development of inexpensive fuel cell catalysts based on carbon nanohybrids.
Exploring electronic functionality in low-dimensional carbon and boron-nitride nanomaterials via advanced theoretical modelling. This project will spawn innovative carbon/boron nitride materials for next-generation electronics devices by devising new strategies to manipulate and control electronic structure as well as charge/spin transport properties. Outcomes will include technological breakthroughs leading to truly smaller, faster and smarter electronics materials.
Hot Topic: Quantum Design of Phononic Heat Filters. Heat management is critical to many technologies for sustainable energy, electronics, protective equipment and energy-efficient buildings. The phonon is the quantum particle representing a travelling vibration and is responsible for the transmission of heat in solids. This project will study the new mechanisms for phonon transport in solids modified with embedded nanoparticles, which operate as phononic filters. Neutron spectroscopy provides a ....Hot Topic: Quantum Design of Phononic Heat Filters. Heat management is critical to many technologies for sustainable energy, electronics, protective equipment and energy-efficient buildings. The phonon is the quantum particle representing a travelling vibration and is responsible for the transmission of heat in solids. This project will study the new mechanisms for phonon transport in solids modified with embedded nanoparticles, which operate as phononic filters. Neutron spectroscopy provides a tool to measure the phonon density of states which is critical for developing a mathematical model of thermal boundary resistance. This is expected to identify mechanisms for ultra-low thermal conductivity leading to potential applications in thermoelectric generators and heat-resistant materials.Read moreRead less
Design and Fabrication of 2D Hybrid Materials. There are >300 2D materials like graphene with potentially exotic and useful electrooptic and superconductor properties that will drive novel industrial applications. This project aims to use advanced computational and experimental techniques to discover and fabricate new 2D hybrid materials built from different layers of 2D materials. This approach is essential as the number of possible hybrids is huge (millions) and current processes to identify a ....Design and Fabrication of 2D Hybrid Materials. There are >300 2D materials like graphene with potentially exotic and useful electrooptic and superconductor properties that will drive novel industrial applications. This project aims to use advanced computational and experimental techniques to discover and fabricate new 2D hybrid materials built from different layers of 2D materials. This approach is essential as the number of possible hybrids is huge (millions) and current processes to identify and build 2D hybrids are technically challenging and slow. Expected outcomes include defining a new paradigm for efficient identification and synthesis of 2D hybrids with exotic, bespoke properties. The generation of a large database of materials for researchers/industry would be of wide benefit.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE150101499
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$355,801.00
Summary
First-principles design and characterisation of topological materials. It has long been predicted that materials may contain special topological order. The recent discovery of topological insulators reveals the tip of the iceberg, but many theoretical hypotheses, such as the existence of the fractional Chern insulator and quantum spin liquid, remain elusive. This project aims to bridge the gap between conceptual models and real materials by using first-principles calculations. The plan is to ide ....First-principles design and characterisation of topological materials. It has long been predicted that materials may contain special topological order. The recent discovery of topological insulators reveals the tip of the iceberg, but many theoretical hypotheses, such as the existence of the fractional Chern insulator and quantum spin liquid, remain elusive. This project aims to bridge the gap between conceptual models and real materials by using first-principles calculations. The plan is to identify and engineer topological electronic bands in experimentally feasible materials, characterise existing quantum frustrated materials and connect these materials with minimal theoretical models. This project also aims to reveal further families of topological materials and clarify their physical properties.Read moreRead less
Controlled atomic chaos: breaking through the disorder roadblock for the next generation low power transistors. Computer chip miniaturisation has reached a critical barrier: performance and power consumption are now seriously hampered by atomic level disorder in the materials. The project aims to understand and resolve the disorder problem and establish Australia's place in the international roadmap with disruptive improvement of device speed and power consumption.
Novel 2-photon atom manipulation for ultra-nanoscale processing of diamond. There is intense interest in exploiting diamond's remarkable properties in many fields of science and technology, but fabricating and processing devices remains a major challenge. This project will build on previous work, using a recently discovered novel laser-induced surface phenomenon that enables, for the first time for any material, the exciting prospect of using light to manipulate surface atoms with atomic precis ....Novel 2-photon atom manipulation for ultra-nanoscale processing of diamond. There is intense interest in exploiting diamond's remarkable properties in many fields of science and technology, but fabricating and processing devices remains a major challenge. This project will build on previous work, using a recently discovered novel laser-induced surface phenomenon that enables, for the first time for any material, the exciting prospect of using light to manipulate surface atoms with atomic precision. This project aims to elucidate the mechanisms underpinning the optical interaction to reveal its full potential and use it to address key problems in diamond nano-device fabrication that lie beyond the reach of current techniques. It is expected that the outcomes will directly enhance Australia's current strengths in diamond-based quantum and photonic technologies.Read moreRead less
Rational Design of Novel Multiferroic Materials for Energy Harvesting and Energy Efficiency. Multiferroics are a class of fundamentally complex materials in which several ferroic orders (for example, ferroelectric and ferromagnetic) coexist. The coupling between their electric and magnetic degrees of freedom is controllable via stress and external fields, thus opening the possibility for breakthrough technological developments. By working at the frontier of complex nanostructured oxide materials ....Rational Design of Novel Multiferroic Materials for Energy Harvesting and Energy Efficiency. Multiferroics are a class of fundamentally complex materials in which several ferroic orders (for example, ferroelectric and ferromagnetic) coexist. The coupling between their electric and magnetic degrees of freedom is controllable via stress and external fields, thus opening the possibility for breakthrough technological developments. By working at the frontier of complex nanostructured oxide materials, this project aims to establish the rational basis for systematic design of novel artificially layered multiferroics, develop accurate and computationally affordable methods to simulate these materials under finite-temperature conditions, and exploit this knowledge to devise likely revolutionary photovoltaic, nanoelectronic and energy conversion applications.Read moreRead less
Generalised density functional theory for accurate chemistry. The project aims to construct two new methods for predicting chemical structure, bonding and reactivity. The first of these (gLDA2) would be useful for modelling molecules whose electrons are constrained to a two-dimensional plane. The second (gLDA3) would be useful for modelling molecules with unconstrained electrons. The project plans to implement the two methods in user-friendly software packages and made available to researchers i ....Generalised density functional theory for accurate chemistry. The project aims to construct two new methods for predicting chemical structure, bonding and reactivity. The first of these (gLDA2) would be useful for modelling molecules whose electrons are constrained to a two-dimensional plane. The second (gLDA3) would be useful for modelling molecules with unconstrained electrons. The project plans to implement the two methods in user-friendly software packages and made available to researchers in Australia and around the world improve manufacturing efficiency in the chemical, biological, medicinal and agricultural contexts. Unlike the semi-empirical approaches that they seek to replace, these two new methods will be derived from the properties of electrons on spheres or hyperspheres and thereby have a solid foundation in quantum mechanics.Read moreRead less