TRR404 Guest Talk "Harnessing Structural Disorder: Multilayer 2D Amorphous Carbon in Next-Generation Microelectronics"

Bio: Materials Science and Engineering Department, Physics Department, Centre for Advanced Materials (CA2DM), Institute for Functional Intelligent Materials (I-FIM), National University of Singapore
https://graphene.nus.edu.sg/barbaros/

Abstract: Unlike defective materials, amorphous materials are heavily disordered yet can be structurally stable. This allows the observation of unusual electronic states and reshapes their energy-momentum dispersion [1]. Furthermore, their heavily disordered atomic potential can drastically alter the local density of states (LDOS). In this context, I will discuss Multilayer Amorphous Carbon (MLAC). It’s freestanding, corrugated 2D nature challenges the conventional Bloch-state framework, enabling new perspectives on 2D Anderson insulator physics and multifractal electronic states. Its fundamental properties help address a number of challenges especially in the microelectronics industry. For example, ML-AC uniquely achieves a high degree of disorder without sacrificing structural integrity. This overcomes typical leakage issues of Anderson insulators under bias relevant for low power electronics. Utilizing non-polar carbon-carbon bonding and suppressing electronic polarization through disorder enables access to ultra-low-k insulating properties (k~1.35). Such a low dielectric constant has the potential to address the RC delay bottleneck in interconnect scaling for advanced CMOS, offering a viable alternative to conventional dielectrics such as SiCOOH. I will conclude with recent results on volatile switching in graphene–MAC–graphene heterostructures, positioning MAC as a potential selector or neuron element in neuromorphic architectures.
1. Toh, C.-T. et al. Synthesis and properties of free-standing monolayer amorphous carbon. Nature 577, 199–203 (2020).