Diamond NEMS logic for extrem environments

2018 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15H03999
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Electron device/Electronic equipment
• Research Institution: National Institute for Materials Science
• Principal Investigator: Liao Meiyong Liao 国立研究開発法人物質・材料研究機構, 機能性材料研究拠点, 主幹研究員 (70528950)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 戸田 雅也 東北大学, 工学研究科, 准教授 (40509890) ; 小出 康夫 国立研究開発法人物質・材料研究機構, 技術開発・共用部門, 部門長 (70195650)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2019-03-31
• Keywords: ダイヤモンド / ナノマシン

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In extreme environments, such as high temperature or strong radiation in nuclear power plants, automobiles, and propulsion systems for combustion control in aerospace, etc., thermally stable and radiation hard　electrical logic circuits is in demand to safely respond and control the electrical signals quickly. Conventional semiconductor devices suffer from thermal leakage current, reduced power handling, and low on / off ratio at high temperatures. Nanomachine switches, in which the on-off operation is controlled by electrostatic actuation with a physical air / vacuum gap, have nearly zero leakage current even at high temperatures and an infinite on / off ratio. In this research, we aim to develop diamond nanomachine logic circuits that can be operated in extreme environments in order to overcome the problems of the conventional switches by utilizing single crystal diamond MEMS technology.

Free Research Field

半導体工学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

半導体集積回路の集積率に伴う構造の微細化によって、回路のリーク電流は大きく、消費電力は高くなってしまう問題がある。ダイヤモンドナノマシンスイッチは、既存の半導体デバイスと比べて、耐高温や耐放射線性特性を持つため、高温下においてもリーク電流は無視できるほど小さく、極限環境下でも低消費電力動作が可能である。そのため、本研究成果は、省エネルギー・高信頼性を有す集積回路として期待できる。