Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

Digital systems are characterized by their use of discrete elements of information. A binary logic system, for instance, utilizes two data levels to process, store, and communicate information. Virtually all modern computers and consumer electronics products operate with binary logic circuits because they are extremely simple and reliable. However, these conventional binary systems are now faced with a formidable challenge to meet the requirements of emerging data-centric applications because of their limited information capacity. To solve this issue, this program will develop high-performance mechanically flexible digital circuits that operate on multi-valued logic principles. Firstly, mechanical flexibility and electrical functionality will be engineered at the material level by exploring the use of thin-film semiconductors, which are well suited to create large-scale electrically active surfaces at reduced processing costs and temperatures. Secondly, a range of advanced transistor concepts, including vertical, heterojunction, quantum-well, and mixed-conductivity channels, will be investigated to achieve tunable multi-transconductance regimes at the device level. Finally, various digital circuit topologies will be systematically evaluated to demonstrate fully programmable ternary and quarternary digital logic systems. The expected outcomes of this program are an integrated hardware production chain, a predictive design and simulation framework, and highly-qualified personnel trained under the equity, diversity, and inclusion principles and in an interdisciplinary scientific environment. The ultra-thin, flexible, light-weight, and conformable physical form factors of these digital systems will accelerate the commercialization of advanced displays, sensors, memories, and processors that can be conveniently mounted on any objects, including vehicles, buildings, roads, bridges, and even plants and human skins, thus realizing the concept of Electronics-on-Everything. Therefore, this program will provide more intelligent and personalized information, entertainment, and healthcare services to Canadians, and it will also make Canadian industries more competitive in the fast-expanding global market of flexible and printed electronics.