STC: Center for Integration of Modern Optoelectronic Materials on Demand

Non-Technical Abstract: Optoelectronic devices that generate, sense, and control light underpin the modern information-technology era. Society is increasingly reliant on such devices for efficient lighting, information display, and optical data transmission. Furthermore, the study of optoelectronics is enabling new technologies ranging from ubiquitous sensors and photorealistic virtual reality displays to quantum-based information technologies that promise to produce exponential increases in computing power and secure communication networks from hacking.

Such advances in optoelectronics, in turn, rely increasingly on advances in the synthesis of highly precise materials and the concomitant integration of different materials into functional optoelectronic devices and systems. This Science and Technology Center, the Center for Integration of Modern Optoelectronic Materials on Demand (IMOD) is developing new classes of optoelectronic materials, devices, and systems with unprecedented functionality based on solution-processed inorganic materials.

IMOD seeks to ensure the successful translation of these scientific and technological advances to U.S. industries by forging close relationships between the academic team and industrial and national lab partners, while educating a diverse group of scientists and engineers in an integrated fashion that focuses on building team-science, inclusive mentoring, and communication, skills at all levels.

Technical Abstract: This STC’s goal is to advance the science of atomically precise synthesis to achieve colloidal emitters with the exactness of synthetic chemistry, and the scalability of additive manufacturing. By controlling the surfaces of these nanomaterials, and their position in small clusters, the Center for Integration of Modern Optoelectronic Materials on Demand (IMOD) seeks to address emergent properties of assemblies of nanocrystalline building blocks that exhibit collective behavior such as coherent charge, spin, and energy transport.

At the same time, IMOD seeks to study and advance applications ranging from quantum-dot light-emitting diodes (QLEDs) and detectors, to new quantum-light sources, spin-based quantum bits (qubits), and quantum sensors, operating across the electromagnetic spectrum. Thus, IMOD seeks to overcome barriers in stability, linewidths, and decoherence, while tackling dispersity, processing, and device architectures.

To achieve these goals, IMOD is organized around three synergistic research themes: (1) Atomically precise synthesis, comprising synthesis of II-VI, III-V, IV-VI, and metal-halide perovskite semiconductors, incorporation of dopants and spin centers, and growth of perfect epitaxial shells; (2) Heterointegration and classical devices, including the combination of multiple atomically precise materials into a single structure or device to achieve new functionality, while seeking to advance applications like LEDs and detectors; and, (3) Quantum optoelectronics: addressing quantum light and spin properties of materials and assemblies developed in (1) and (2); while developing a new class of quantum light sources and exploring frontier concepts in non-linear quantum optics, cavity quantum electrodynamics, and polaritonics; and developing a new class of colloidal-based qubits. IMOD’s technology outcomes are chosen for their potential to have broader impacts on industries with important economic and national-security impacts.

IMOD’s broader impact goals include development of a STEM-capable workforce that engages all Americans by: (1) training a diverse group of scientists and engineers in an integrated team-based fashion across traditional disciplinary interfaces, thus ensuring a U.S. workforce equipped to lead the Nation’s economic and technological development; (2) making science and equity-focused outreach curricula accessible to the public while empowering its diverse participants to pursue STEM disciplines in an inclusive environment; and (3) accelerating knowledge transfer through IMOD’s partnerships and programming with industry and national laboratories.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.