COMPACT - Designing and fabricating a multi-modal characterization platform for a broad range of materials

Fast and reliable characterization of novel materials can accelerate their integration with current semiconductor technologies and pave the way for future computation platforms like neuromorphic computing. Traditional methods for material characterization depend significantly on post-processing of the material in a cleanroom to fabricate microstructures (e.g. electrical leads, capacitors, inductors, waveguides, etc.) required for performing measurements. Post-processing has several drawbacks such as altering material properties, lack of standardized fabrication processes and measurement protocols necessary comparing material iterations, and high monetary and time costs. We propose a prefabricated, standardized and multi-modal characterization platform, "COMPACT," that can address many of these concerns. Novel materials can be grown directly on this platform, which includes several microstructures required for standardized electrical, optical, and structural characterization protocols. An active electronic circuitry is also being designed to complement and automate many of these measurements. Therefore, our platform can perform automated, standardized characterization of materials while reducing the costs and problems associated with cleanroom processing.