Professor James Gupta, originally from the NRC, joined the Department of Physics to spearhead this partnership, which aims to set up the first North American Metal Organic Chemical Vapour Deposition (MOCVD) lab for the production of 2-dimensional materials – only the third of its kind worldwide. The MOCVD is an important manufacturing technology that deposits single-crystal layers onto semiconductor wafers. The commercial MOCVD system will grow 2D material films onto three 50 mm-diameter wafers at once. These scaled-up 2D materials can be processed, studied, and used in devices, unlike the small flakes of 2D materials obtained from the conventional mechanical exfoliation method (the “Scotch Tape technique”, which earned the 2010 Nobel Prize for graphene).
Prof. Gupta’s project aligns with the High-throughput and Secure Networks (HTSN) challenge program of the NRC, developing technologies that improve the cost and performance of delivering secure, affordable and high-speed internet services in rural and remote communities across Canada. The NRC became a financial partner, providing over $3M, to commission and construct the 2D-MOCVD Growth and Characterization lab at uOttawa. The 2D materials grown on the MOCVD include transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDC), such as WS2 and MoSe2, which have unique optoelectronic properties, allowing further research in the fields of materials, nanostructures, and quantum technologies.
For instance, Prof. Gupta’s team will develop 2D materials for ultra-large-scale-integrated microchip transistors. This is a crucial endeavour as current computer microchips are based on silicon dioxide and other silicon substrates. Progress in making more efficient chips has followed an exponential trend; however, we are reaching a point where silicon can no longer work in the same way. “We’re at the atomic limit,” says Prof. Gupta. Graphene and TMDC films can be used to make new, ultrasmall transistors on microchips. This can help us overcome the limits of silicon and contribute to the advancement of this critically important technological sector.
Prof. Gupta highlights an interesting property of TMDCs: their ability to emit single photons of visible light. There are multiple important applications for single photon or single quantum light emitters in quantum communications. TMDCs have different quantum states for storing and transmitting quantum information. Collaborators from the Center for Quantum 2D Materials will characterise and advance fundamental understanding of the TMDC grown on the MOCVD. This will further research about how they can be used to reach HTSN goals, among others.
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