3D composite resistive switching nanoparticle networks enabled by complex plasmas

• Applicants: Professor Jan Benedikt, Ph.D.; Professor Dr.-Ing. Jan Trieschmann
• Subject Area: Synthesis and Properties of Functional Materials ; Electronic Semiconductors, Components and Circuits, Integrated Systems, Sensor Technology, Theoretical Electrical Engineering ; Optics, Quantum Optics and Physics of Atoms, Molecules and Plasmas
• Term: since 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 568560111

In recent years, research on nanoparticle networks at the percolation threshold has demonstrated their remarkable potential as physical substrates for beyond-von Neumann computing both experimentally and theoretically. In this project, plasma-assisted synthesis of 2.5D (substrate roughness controlled layers of nanoparticles) and 3D nanoparticle networks is explored as a novel, versatile, and scalable fabrication method. It offers the possibility of fine-tuning the properties of the nanoparticles and networks, enabled by their trapping and targeted modification in a low-pressure plasma, as well as the controlled extraction and deposition of the such tailored nanoparticles. The goal is to generate these composite nanoparticle networks with specific 3D connectivity schemes and collective resistive switching characteristics that expose criticality, avalanche dynamics, and scale-free behavior. This is addressed by combining experiments with modeling/simulation: Experimentally, Ag nanoparticles generated from a gas aggregation source are trapped in the gas-phase in the positive potential of a low-pressure radio-frequency discharge due to their negative charge. The addition of precursor gas enables their controlled surface modification to obtain Ag@SiO2 core-satellite and core-shell nanoparticles. Their targeted deposition from the plasma through a scalable extraction system and the electrical characterization of the obtained 2.5D/3D nanoparticle networks is examined. This effort is complemented by a theoretical description and analysis of the nanoparticle extraction and their deposition onto pre-structured surfaces by means of particle-based simulations. Moreover, a characterization of the nanoparticle networks concerning the collective resistive switching kinetics and criticality is achieved by an analysis of the spike-time dynamics from a phenomenological nanoparticle network model, taking into account resistive switching in the nano-gaps between groups of nanoparticles and dynamics of electrical network connectivity in a (modified) nodal analysis.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Czech Republic, New Zealand
• Cooperation Partners: Professor Simon Brown, Ph.D.; Professor Dr. Tomas Kozak, Ph.D.