| AVS 64th International Symposium & Exhibition | |
| Nanometer-scale Science and Technology Division | Wednesday Sessions |
| Session NS+MN+MS+SS-WeA |
| Session: | Nanopatterning, Nanofabrication and 3D Nanomanufacturing |
| Presenter: | Andrew Lupini, Oak Ridge National Laboratory |
| Authors: | A.R. Lupini, Oak Ridge National Laboratory B.M. Hudak, Oak Ridge National Laboratory J. Song, Oak Ridge National Laboratory H.R. Sims, Vanderbilt University M.C. Troparevsky, Oak Ridge National Laboratory S.T. Pantelides, Vanderbilt University P.C. Snijders, Oak Ridge National Laboratory |
| Correspondent: | Click to Email |
The ability to controllably position single atoms inside materials could enable production of a new generation of atomically precise artificial materials with direct relevance for many areas of technology. For example, spins from individual donors in a semiconductor comprise one of the most promising architectures for quantum computing. However, fabrication of the ‘qubits’ that would make up a quantum computer is still unreliable and many fundamental materials science questions remain unanswered. Perhaps the key technical difficulty is the task of accurately positioning single atom dopants inside a solid with control, or at least understanding, of their local environment.
Silicon is the ideal substrate to explore such ideas because of the ability to obtain isotopically purified samples (a “spin-vacuum”) and compatibility with existing electronic components and manufacturing technologies. Group V elements are promising candidates for use as single-atom qubit dopants in Si, and it has recently been argued that bismuth could be an excellent dopant for such applications, because of its anomalously high spin-orbit coupling. Bi, in particular, has a large atomic number relative to Si, making it an ideal candidate to study using Z-contrast scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM). However, both precise doping and the imaging of single dopant atoms present many scientific challenges. For example, Bi is not very soluble in Si, meaning that the dopant atoms tend to migrate out of position during sample growth.
Here we will show examples of sample growth including novel nanostructures and single atom dopants. We will show dopant atoms imaged inside Si samples, and demonstrate electron-beam directed movement of single dopants.
Research sponsored by US Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Sciences and Engineering Division; and by the Laboratory Directed Research and Development Program of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, managed by UT-Battelle, LLC, for the U. S. Department of Energy. DFT calculations were supported by DOE Grant No. DE-FG02-09ER46554.
This manuscript has been authored by UT-Battelle, LLC under Contract No. DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the U.S. Department of Energy. The United States Government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the United States Government retains a non-exclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, world-wide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for United States Government purposes. The Department of Energy will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan (http://energy.gov/downloads/doe-public-access-plan).