An Emerging Family of Multifunctional Organic-Inorganic Hybrid Structures
Abstract
Organic-inorganic hybrid materials have been particularly promising for their potential of combining the superior properties of the two worlds into one material to yield enhanced or novel material properties that are difficult or impossible to achieve with either organic or inorganic material alone, thus, opening new frontiers for materials sciences and applications. This interest has skyrocketed in the last decade or so, because hybrid perovskite MAPbI3 (MA = CH3NH3) and its derivatives have shown unprecedentedly rapid development in photovoltaics and solid-state lighting as well as a wide range of other applications. This explosive interest has also generated a broad scope of basic and applied research problems, that may not be relevant in conventional semiconductors, such as the desperate call to solve the stability issue of these materials and to understand the possibly related ion migration issue in these materials. With few exceptions, most organic-inorganic hybrids, including the room temperature phases of hybrid perovskites, have two major drawbacks: (1) lower stability compared to conventional inorganic semiconductors, and (2) structural disordering. Low structural stability of the hybrids places a major challenge or limitation in real world applications. On the other hand, any significant degree of structural disordering will hinder our ability to study the fundamental science in a hybrid structure, and its potential in applications. This project will explore another family of crystalline organic-inorganic hybrid materials beyond hybrid perovskites, namely II-VI based hybrids that offer vast flexibility in structural design and tunability of material properties. In our previous work, some prototype structures have already been shown to be stable over 15 years, a time scale typically expected for (opto-)electronic applications. Furthermore, they have been shown to be highly ordered, among the best in all the man-made superstructures. Importantly, they exhibit numeral novel or unique electronic, optical, thermal, and elastic properties that matches the interest of ARO/Physical Properties of Materials. In this project, we will focus on one group of the II-VI hybrids with the high stability and structure ordering already demonstrated for some of its members. We will tune the material structures by changing the chalcogen element and organic molecules to achieve targeted properties for different applications, characterize their electronic, optical, and transport properties, develop methodologies for depositing the hybrid materials in thin films, demonstrate the ability to dope the hybrid structure, and fabricate optical microcavity for room temperature exciton-polariton study. This project will directly support one postdoc and involve 3 Ph.D. students supported by each host department of the three PIs, undergraduate students supported by an NSF funded summer research program NanoSURE, and high school summer interns supported by the Research Experience Apprenticeship Program (REAP) under Army Educational Outreach Program (AEOP). They will be trained to obtain the skills necessary to solve the interdisciplinary problems of importance in todayÕs society. We will make a special effort to recruit the students from the under-represented minority groups.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- May 24, 2023
- Source ID
- W911NF2310215
Entities
People
- Yong Zhang
Organizations
- Army Contracting Command
- Office of the Secretary of Defense
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill