Engineering nanoscale material properties by controlled-temperature indentation

This project will exploit nanoindentation in an entirely different way: not as the usual method for measuring the mechanical properties of materials but as a tool for desirably modifying the electrical properties of semiconductors at the nanoscale. We propose a one-step method of fabricating both electrically insulating and conducting regions in silicon by controlled-temperature indentation to induced phase changes. We will then extend this concept, together with confinement of softer compound semiconductors between harder layers, to induce phase transformations for the first time in these materials. If successful this research will open up the prospects for novel semiconductor devices.