The PAMS project will explore all scientific and technological aspects of the fabrication of planar atomic and sub-molecular scale electronic devices on surfaces of Si:H, Ge:H, AlN, CaCO3 (calcite) and CaF2 with atomic scale precision and reproducibility.
The sub-nanoscale devices will be made by combining ultra-precise Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (STM) and non-contact-Atomic Force Microscopy (NC-AFM) atomic and molecular manipulation, including hydrogen extraction from passivated surfaces, controlled local doping and on-surface chemical synthesis of molecular devices and wires by coupling of precursors. PAMS will develop new solutions to reliably address sub-nanometer scale devices from the human scale by developing a new generation of low-temperature interconnection and manipulation machines comprising four STM/ NC-AFM heads with sub-Å precision, allowing for contacting nanopads connected to dangling bond nanowires, doped silicon nanowires or molecular nanowires.
PAMS will address the novel theoretical challenges posed by these planar devices. Accordingly, new methodological tools will be developed, allowing for a multiscale description (using from first-principles to empirical force-fields) of the structural, electronic and transport properties of such atomic and molecular devices, as well as their fabrication and characterization. These new theoretical tools will ultimately permit us to optimize the design and synthesis of atomic and molecular gates.
Key-words: Planar atomic scale devices and technology– Theory and simulation of nano-devices — Remote addressing of nano-devices — On-surface synthesis — Interconnection machine — Surfaces of H:Si , H:Ge, AlN, CaCO3