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Patternable Mesoporous Thin Film Quantum Materials via Block Copolymer Self-Assembly: An Emergent Technology?

Cornell Affiliated Author(s)

Author

F. Yu
R.P. Thedford
K.R. Hedderick
G. Freychet
M. Zhernenkov
L.A. Estroff
K.C. Nowack
Sol Gruner
U.B. Wiesner

Abstract

Recent developments in quantum materials hold promise for revolutionizing energy and information technologies. The use of soft matter self-assembly, for example, by employing block copolymers (BCPs) as structure directing or templating agents, offers facile pathways toward quantum metamaterials with highly tunable mesostructures via scalable solution processing. Here, we report the preparation of patternable mesoporous niobium carbonitride-type thin film superconductors through spin-coating of a hybrid solution containing an amphiphilic BCP swollen by niobia sol precursors and subsequent thermal processing in combination with photolithography. Spin-coated as-made BCP-niobia hybrid thin films on silicon substrates after optional photolithographic definition are heated in air to produce a porous oxide, and subsequently converted in a multistep process to carbonitrides via treatment with high temperatures in reactive gases including ammonia. Grazing incidence small-angle X-ray scattering suggests the presence of ordered mesostructures in as-made BCP-niobia films without further annealing, consistent with a distorted alternating gyroid morphology that is retained upon thermal treatments. Wide-angle X-ray scattering confirms the synthesis of phase-pure niobium carbonitride nanocrystals with rock-salt lattices within the mesoscale networks. Electrical transport measurements of unpatterned thin films show initial exponential rise in resistivity characteristic of thermal activation in granular systems down to 12.8 K, at which point resistivity drops to zero into a superconducting state. Magnetoresistance measurements determine the superconducting upper critical field to be over 16 T, demonstrating material quality on par with niobium carbonitrides obtained from traditional solid-state synthesis methods. We discuss how such cost-effective and scalable solution-based quantum materials fabrication approaches may be integrated into existing microelectronics processing, promising the emergence of a technology with tremendous academic and industrial potential by combining the capabilities of soft matter self-assembly with quantum materials. © 2021 American Chemical Society.

Date Published

Journal

ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces

Volume

13

Issue

29

Number of Pages

34732-34741,

URL

https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85111575591&doi=10.1021%2facsami.1c09085&partnerID=40&md5=4bde2537e9329bdcb8116a2014bd1321

DOI

10.1021/acsami.1c09085

Group (Lab)

Katja Nowack Group
Sol M. Gruner Group

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