Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

In the past 15 years, the discovery of topological materials has forged a new understanding of solids in terms of quantum mechanics and topology. In those materials, the electronic energy bands and wave functions are characterized by nonzero integers known as topological invariants. These invariants lead to unusual electronic states localized at sample boundaries. The properties of topological materials have generated prospects for alluring applications in microelectronics, energy harvesting, sensing and quantum computation. Delivering on that promise remains a crucial challenge of the field. The main objective of my NSERC Discovery Grant program is to help overcome such challenge by developing original theoretical approaches for the modeling of topological microelectronic devices. Specifically, I intend to pursue the following research directions: 1) Assessment of topological materials for next-generation interconnects: For decades, the miniaturization of integrated circuits has led to an extraordinary increase in our ability to store and process information. This trend is now facing a serious obstruction due to the escalating electrical resistivity of conventional copper interconnects. As shown by K. Fuchs and E. Sondheimer in the mid-20th century, in thinner wires, electrons carrying the current inside the wire encounter the rough surfaces of the wire more frequently, thereby enhancing the wire's resistivity. Topological materials, endowed with their peculiar surface states, have the potential to overturn the unfavorable resistivity scaling predicted by Fuchs and Sondheimer. I plan to generalize the Fuchs-Sondheimer theory to topological materials and come up with new analytical insights that may impact the development of next-generation interconnects. 2) Generalization of conventional microelectronic modeling tools to topological materials:  Since the second half of the 20th century, Van Roosbroeck's (VR) equations have enabled the understanding and development of transistors, solar cells, photodiodes and other technologically important devices. Nonetheless, virtually all the work has been focused on conventional materials like silicon, which are not topological. I aim to discover fundamental changes in the solutions of VR equations when the material is topological, which will be essential if topological microelectronic devices are to become technological reality. This research program will contribute to the three pillars of Canada's National Quantum Strategy, by (i) carrying out basic and applied research on new materials to realize more energy efficient quantum devices, (ii) training talent (12 students) that is critical for Canada's burgeoning quantum sector, (iii) collaborating with industry (e.g. IBM) to translate topological materials into products (e.g. interconnects) that can benefit society.