The US army sponsored HUST’s research on new materials development of nano electronic components

In September 2022, research topic "Doping of 1D and 2D materials towards nanoelectronic and gas sensing devices: Understanding the fundamental properties towards application in environmental monitoring and exhaled breath analysis" by Prof. Nguyen Duc Hoa - Vice Dean of the School of Materials, Hanoi University of Science and Technology - has been sponsored by the Asian Office of Aerospace Research and Development of the US Air Force with more than 200,000 USD for a research period of 3 years. The "output" products are scientific discoveries and technological solutions that would be widely shared with the community.

Visualize researching materials 1,000 times smaller than a strand of hair
Disseminating knowledge to "outsiders", Prof. Nguyen Duc Hoa said that the interesting properties of nanomaterials stem from their very small size, which can be compared to quantum limits, leading to many physical and chemical properties that cannot be found in conventional materials. Nanoscience is the science of studying matter at extremely small sizes - nanometers (nm), one nanometer is one billionth of a meter (m) or one millionth of a millimeter (mm).
  Nanotechnology is technology related to the design, manufacture, and application of devices and systems by controlling shape, size, and structure at the nanometer scale (from 1 - 100 nm). Taking a strand of hair for comparison, we can imagine that this strip of material has a minimum one-dimensional size 1,000 times smaller than the diameter of a strand of hair!

The research topic of Prof. Nguyen Duc Hoa and colleagues at the School of Materials, Hanoi University of Science and Technology aims to develop a method to dope low-dimensional materials (1D and 2D) with extremely small sizes measuring in nanometers (nm).

According to Prof. Nguyen Duc Hoa, doping materials changes the electronic structure, physical and optical properties, as well as gas adsorption capacity, thereby creating new nano gas sensors and nano electronics. Scientists at Hanoi University of Science and Technology target the controlled synthesis and doping of one-dimensional (1D) metal oxides (WO3, SnO2, ZnO) and two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides (2D) (TMD) to explain the role of doping elements on the properties of the host material.

Doping of 1D and 2D materials with various precious metal elements will be done by ion implantation and/or doping during material synthesis. “We will combine experimental studies and theoretical calculations through density functional theory (DFT) to understand material phenomena, in which the effects of synthesis are emphasized” – said Prof. Nguyen Duc Hoa.

To be able to understand and create new materials as desired, scientists at Hanoi University of Science and Technology not only find technological solutions but also carefully study the nature of materials. On the basis of knowledge sharing, individuals and groups with technological potential around the world will be able to develop electronic components, nano sensors, and apply solutions in products.
  1D and 2D materials will be fabricated with controlled synthesis methods using chemical vapor deposition and mechanical exfoliation. 1D and 2D materials will be implanted/doped with different ions (e.g. Pt2+, Pd2+, Ag+, etc.) during the fabrication process. The physicochemical and gas properties of doped materials will be studied to understand the nature and new fundamental principles from which to develop new generation nanoelectronic components and nano gas sensors.

HUST scientists aim to research a new phenomenon of doped materials that allows the fabrication of nano electronic components and high-performance gas nano sensors with small size, low power consumption, low gas detection limit, high sensitivity and high selectivity based on the new design of doped 1D and 2D materials. On the same unit area, increasing component density will increase the speed of the electronic chip, thereby increasing calculation speed. Furthermore, as the size decreases, the transmission distance - the wire circuit - also decreases, thereby reducing the energy consumption of the component.

Technology giants such as Samsung, TSMC, Intel,... are all following this research direction.

The teacher with passion about materials control shares the most difficult problem of phase 1
Prof. Nguyen Duc Hoa, 41, was the youngest professor in the Department of Physics in 2019. The professor is passionate about researching nanomaterials and gas sensors, publishing over 100 prestigious international SCI articles, cited more than 6000 times, with an H-index of 47; owns 1 international invention, 3 domestic inventions/useful solutions (7 are in the approval process). In 2021, he won the State Award for Science and Technology...

Through many research projects related to the field of microscopic materials, scientist Nguyen Duc Hoa has become increasingly passionate about controlling nanomaterials.

After 1 year of implementation, phase 1 of the research project (85,000 USD invested) has produced products. The most difficult problem of the research topic is doping materials. HUST scientists have patiently and meticulously performed many experiments doping atomic ions into nanowires 1,000 times smaller than a hair strand to change the electrical properties, mobility, etc. of the material. Prof. Nguyen Duc Hoa says the technical term is "nano implantation", but to "outsiders", scientists and teachers of Hanoi University of Science and Technology are like masters with super powers to transform and control materials!

Prof. Nguyen Duc Hoa is satisfied that most of the experiments were performed right at Hanoi University of Science and Technology, with only a few measurements outsourced because Hanoi only has a few of these specialized equipment. “Many modern equipment of HUST was invested under the SAHEP project (Support for Autonomous Higher Education Project of World Bank), contributing to helping HUST scientists save time and be proactive in research steps” – shared Prof. Hoa.
  Along with contributing knowledge to the community, Prof. Nguyen Duc Hoa also instills a passion for research and mentors 3rd and 4th year students, graduate students, and researchers at the School of Materials, Hanoi University of Science and Technology. While the teacher researches, the students get to work, test their learned theories at school, self-study, enhance their own abilities, study different materials, etc.

Some projects, theses, and dissertations originate from the skills and foundational knowledge when doing scientific research with the teacher. After graduation, students, trainees, and graduate students will have in-depth knowledge and solutions to apply into real, practical problems.

From the examples of dedication, innovation, and breakthroughs of the teachers of Hanoi University of Science and Technology, each generation of HUST people is burning with desire, passion, enthusiasm, and responsibility to the community and society.
 
After 1 year of research, Professor. Nguyen Duc Hoa and his colleagues have had 5 scientific publications at conferences and 3 publications in internationally prestigious international journals (Q1).