Phonon-ART · Uncovering Phonon Dynamics by Advanced Raman Techniques
Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2020-11-01 → 2022-10-31
- EU contribution
- €203,149
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- MSCA-IF
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
Uncovering Phonon Dynamics by Advanced Raman Techniques
Technologies based on electrons and photons have changed many aspects of our daily lives. Controlling electrons in semiconductor materials has allowed for mainstream technologies such as laptops and mobile phones, while the control of photons is critical for wireless communication or the use of optical fibers. Meanwhile, in many technologies such as nanoelectronics, heat management becomes the bottleneck for the next generation development. In many materials heat is carried mostly by phonons, mechanical vibrations of the atomic lattice and are responsible for the transmission of both sound and heat. Therefore, controlling phonons analogously to photons and electrons becomes indispensable to develop analogous technologies based on sonic and thermal materials and devices. However, this is an extremely complicated task, and many efforts are devoted towards developing new materials and experimental techniques capable of measuring reliably phonons. This is particularly difficult to achieve in nanomaterials, field that is experiencing deep research since advances in nanofabrication now make it possible to scale the characteristic dimensions of nanostructures to under 10nm. Understanding thermal transport in such nanoscale systems is crucial not only to advanced fundamental science but also to push energy-efficient technological applications that are on high demand. This project sought to enlighten the fundamental mechanism responsible for thermal transport away from nanoscale heat sources and diamond, both material systems very relevant for the semiconductor industry. In particular, this project aimed at advancing this understanding by implementing new techniques based on ultrafast lasers in order to characterize thermal transport at the nanoscale. We proposed to develop ultrafast conventional and stimulated Raman spectroscopy techniques to study how these materials cool down over time after impulsive heating, and therefore, identify the most promising avenues to effectively dissipate heat in nanoelectronics devices. The Phonon-ART project concluded that time-resolved Raman spectroscopy techniques in combination with transient reflectivity measurements is a extremely powerful approach to study electron and phonon dynamics in a range of materials from bulk semiconductors to graphite to graphene.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
In many technologies, heat management becomes the bottleneck for the next generation development. Phonons are mechanical vibrations of the atomic lattice that are responsible for the transmission of heat in many relevant materials, like semiconductors, thus controlling them analogously to photons and electrons is indispensable. Advanced time-resolved Raman spectroscopies enable the extraction of relevant information such as phonon spectra, lifetimes, and relaxation times, all critical to understanding thermal transport through advanced materials. In this project we aim to apply these techniques to solve two important open questions: (i) how to engineer the temperature sensors of the future based on diamond-based materials; and (ii) understanding the underlying physical mechanism responsible for deviations from the macroscopic predictions for nanoscale system, such as hypersonic surface phononic crystals, critical to technological applications. For this purpose, I propose four main objectives to the project. First, implementing an ultrafast time-resolved spontaneous Raman method to access the timescale of the absolute phonon mode population. Second, implementing a time-resolved stimulated Raman spectroscopy technique to explore the coherence of selectively excited phonons. Third, extending this technique to a time-resolved coherent anti-Stokes Raman (CARS) spectroscopy to probe the population dephasing lifetime of the system and energy relaxation time. This project will significantly advance the field of ultrafast, nano, materials and thermal science and will extend European knowledge in two different directions: advancing the current metrology tools by means of a fully developed time-resolved CARS setup at University of Basel, and studying energy flow dynamics in novel materials that will impact both fundamental understanding and technological applications.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- UNIVERSITAT BASEL · BaselCoordinatorSwitzerland
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union