This $223,249 Project Grant award, sponsored by the National Science Foundation's Division of Materials Research (CFDA 47.049 - Mathematical and Physical Sciences) and Division of Electrical, Communications and Cyber Systems, is funding research at the University of California, Santa Barbara to address scientific and technical barriers to high-performance two-dimensional semiconductor field-effect transistors (2DS-FETs).
The primary objectives are to develop novel gate-stack engineering approaches using 2D high-k dielectric materials in combination with conventional high-k dielectrics. This interdisciplinary research aims to identify promising 2D high-k interfacial layers that can enable efficient interfaces between 2D semiconductors and the gate-oxide stack, improving the overall performance and energy efficiency of 2DS-FET devices. The project will leverage a comprehensive simulation framework spanning materials-level density functional theory to device-level non-equilibrium Green's function modeling to guide the materials optimization and device fabrication. The research findings are expected to help revolutionize a wide range of electronic products and applications, from microprocessors to memory devices, with significant potential impact on the semiconductor and electronics industries.