FERROENERGY · Integrated ferroelectric oxides for energy conversion devices
Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2019-02-08 → 2022-02-10
- EU contribution
- €257,191
- Participants
- 2
- Scheme
- MSCA-IF-GF
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
Integrated ferroelectric oxides for energy conversion devices
A common strategy used by materials scientists to explore and manipulate properties of crystalline systems consists on synthesizing nanoscale single crystal films, which allow for complete control over structure-properties relationships. This is especially relevant in systems showing polar order (e.g. ferroelectrics) where the electrical polarization is directly connected to structural distortions. So far, this has been a very successful strategy to enhance materials’ susceptibilities, produce devices with novel functionalities and discover emergent phenomena, however this strategy imposes several restrictions: - Strain tunability: The accessible lattice deformations that one can induce in the lattice of ferroelectric films is limited by the available single crystal oxide substrates for coherent growth. - Integrability: The properties and devices fabricated on the growth substrates are in general not possible to implement on other substrates more convenient for technological applications (such as silicon or flexible polymers) - Mechanical clamping: The strong bonding between the substrate and the film negatively affects the intrinsic functionality of the latter. In ferroelectrics, this increases the power and time needed to switch polarization, and decreases their piezoelectric response, limiting the performance in memory devices and nanoelectromechanical systems. - Thermal connection with the substrate: The much larger thermal mass of the substrate causes the ultrafast thermalization of the films, preventing the direct measurement of temperature changes caused by external stimuli, and therefore thermal energy conversion capabilities can only be explored via simulations or indirect measurements. The objective of FERROENERGY is to exploit a new methodology to produce freestanding single crystal nanomembranes of complex oxides that allow overcoming these limitations and expand the opportunities of ferroelectric oxides as next-generation materials for electronic devices and for energy conversion at the nanoscale.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
The rapid development of the semiconductor-based technology has enabled today’s functionalities and convenience that seemed impossible just a generation ago. Today, we rely upon numerous electronic devices that are pervasive around us to augment, accelerate, and alleviate countless tasks. In order to maintain the current (and desired) technological progression into the future, and to make this progress sustainable for the next generation, the performance of these devices must be improved in a more energy-efficient way.Complex oxides – a family of materials displaying a vast diversity of physical properties – are a promising alternative for creating the superior technologies that could ensure this extended progress. Despite their promise, the two main obstacles currently impeding their implementation are 1) continued lack of a complete understanding of the microscopic phenomena governing the properties and 2) the difficulty in integrating such materials with existing processes in the semiconductor industry.This Action exploits a novel fabrication process, inspired by the manipulation of single atomic layers such as graphene, but applied in a completely new way: to produce macroscopically large freestanding oxide thin films. Such films present a system free of substrate clamping and ideal to explore and optimize the intrinsic functionalities of these materials. In the first stage of the action, freestanding ferroelectric oxide films will be studied, thereby paving the way for implementation of the second stage in which these films will be integrated with semiconductor and flexible substrates for the development of energy conversion microelectronic devices. Once the objectives of this Action are achieved, a long awaited route to improve the current semiconductor technology via prototypical integration of complex oxides will be demonstrated. This multidisciplinary experimental action will be developed at two top level research institutions in United States and Spain.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- FUNDACIO INSTITUT CATALA DE NANOCIENCIA I NANOTECNOLOGIA · BELLATERRA (BARCELONA)CoordinatorSpain
- THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA · OaklandUnited States
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union