SFB 1719:  Next-generation printed semiconductors: Atomic-level engineering via molecular surface chemistry

• Subject Area: Chemistry ; Computer Science, Systems and Electrical Engineering ; Materials Science and Engineering ; Physics
• Term: since 2025
• Website: Homepage
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 538767711

ChemPrint reinvents semiconductors research. This CRC shall inaugurate the patterned growth of functional inorganic semiconductors from solution with atomic precision using molecular chemical control. The mild processing conditions are inherently energy-efficient and the additive approach materials-efficient, in stark contrast to the characteristics of traditional semiconductor manu-fac¬tu¬ring. According to our tenet, the ultimate degree of control achieved routinely in classical molecular chemistry can be advantageously transferred to interfacial reactions designed to grow semi-con¬ductor films with atomic precision. To this aim, we will tailor molecular precursors, reaction envi¬ron-ments, depo¬sition procedures, and substrates in order to precision-engineer the reaction mechanisms, the elementary kinetics, the reversibility of individual steps, the interfacial energies, and the mobility of adspecies. Controlling these factors in mild conditions, potentially even at room temperature, shall achieve the highest possible degree of accuracy in positioning atoms or ions into regular structures. This strategy will then enable us to create original patterns and heterostructures along horizontal and vertical dimensions. We will aim for epitaxial material quality in various guises and corresponding functional quality, targeting semiconductors with either defect correction ability or intrinsic defect tolerance. The first funding period will establish quantitative design criteria for these currently imperfectly defined concepts. Accordingly, we will during the first four years gather data on three material families which cover a range of dimensionalities and chemical bonding types: heavier main group V (group 15) chalcogenides, halide perovskites, and transition metal dichalcogenides. The general insight gained will enable the consortium to choose the material focus for subsequent funding periods. The individual research projects contributing to the consortium will be organized in four research areas: Area C, Surface chemistry and reactivity; Area S, Structure and electronic properties; Area F, Functional properties and applications; Area M, Modeling and simulation. On a strategic level, the fundamental insight into low-temperature molecular reaction mechanisms at interfaces gained in ChemPrint will open up a new avenue in semiconductor processing. Suitable functional materials and semiconductor devices will be rendered accessible by approaches requiring low investments. Innovation by small economic actors will be possible again in information technology. This will reverse the economic trend in this sector, allowing it to revert to a more decentralized, more agile and nimble state, and potentially putting Germany at the spearhead of a flexible and robust semi¬conductor manufacturing industry.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres

Current projects

• C01 - Controlling deposit site and morphology via covalent and non-covalent interactions (Project Head Bachmann, Ph.D., Julien )
• C02 - Surface chemistry on 2D materials (Project Head Hirsch, Andreas )
• C03 - Photopatterned crystal growth on surfaces (Project Head Dube, Henry )
• C04 - Understanding and controlling the deposition of semiconductor films by electrochemical approaches (Project Head Ng, Ph.D., Siow Woon )
• C05 - Understanding elementary growth mechanisms for printed semi-con¬ductors: From surface science to in-situ studies in liquid environments (Project Head Libuda, Jörg )
• C06 - Solid-state NMR spectroscopy for thin layer semiconductor formation and structural control (Project Head Wisser, Dorothea )
• F01 - Photon and charge management in low-dimensional semiconductors (Project Head Guldi, Dirk M. )
• F03 - Solution phase epitaxial (SPE) growth of semiconductors: from single crystal films to epitaxial semiconductor heterojunctions (Project Head Brabec, Christoph J. )
• F04 - Direct comparison of structure and performance of vacuum- and solution-processed photovoltaic devices (Project Head Bachmann, Ph.D., Julien )
• F05 - Selective growth and device integration of thin film materials on self-assembled monolayers (Project Head Halik, Marcus )
• F06 - Recyclable opto-electronic devices through the reversible deposition and removal of functional layers with atomic precision (Project Head Peters, Ian Marius )
• M01 - Atomistic investigations of structure formation of new electronic materials by density-functional calculations (Project Head Görling, Andreas )
• M02 - Excited-state phenomena: Unraveling structure-property relationships across dimensions (Project Head Müller, Carolin )
• M03 - Understanding and tailoring the nucleation and growth of 2D semiconductors by molecular dynamics simulations (Project Head Zahn, Dirk )
• M04 - Towards the control of nucleation and growth in 2D materials (Project Head Smith, Ana-Suncana )
• M05 - The role of solvent properties and process parameters on the nucleation and growth of crystals in drying solutions (Project Head Harting, Jens )
• S01 - Atomic-scale insight into the morphology and electronic structure of 2D semiconductors using scanning probe microscopy (Project Head Maier, Sabine )
• S02 - High-resolution, analytical & in situ electron microscopy of atomic struc¬ture, local chemistry and structural evolution of solution-processed thin films (Project Head Spiecker, Erdmann )
• S03 - Understanding the stepwise structural evolution of printed semiconductors: from ex-situ to complex in-situ studies (Project Head Unruh, Tobias )
• S04 - Excitons and phonons at vertical and lateral interfaces in ultrathin semiconductors (Project Head Maultzsch, Janina )
• S05 - Layer and interface formation of defect-tolerant functional materials as revealed by X-ray spectroscopy (Project Head Bär, Marcus )
• TMGK - Integrated Research Training Group (iRTG) (Project Heads Halik, Marcus ;  Wisser, Dorothea )
• Z - Central Task of the Collaborative Research Center - Coordination (Project Head Bachmann, Ph.D., Julien )

• Applicant Institution: Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
• Participating Institution: Forschungszentrum Jülich; Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie
• Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Julien Bachmann, Ph.D.