| Abstract Scope |
The landscape of materials exploration is rapidly expanding to meet the social demand for functional materials. Autonomous materials research, using AI-based decision-making with automated synthesis and measurements carried out by robots, presents a promising avenue. Recently, significant progress has been made in the development of solid-state systems, alongside conventional liquid systems where materials are more easily handled. Here, we present our recent research on the autonomous synthesis of functional inorganic oxide thin films. Through iterative operations of automated thin film deposition (utilizing robots), measurement of electronic/ionic conductivity (also performed by robots), and the application of Bayesian optimization (AI) for decision-making, we achieved approximately a tenfold increase in throughput. Additionally, I will discuss future perspectives regarding the combination of combinatorial film deposition technology and a materials exploration system integrated with various measurement instruments. |