SBIR Phase I: Miniaturized Contour-Mode Intermediate Frequency (IF) Piezoelectric Aluminum Nitride MEMS Filters for Electronic Communication

这个小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段项目将研究在甚高频(VHF)下使用压电氮化铝轮廓模谐振器(CMR)滤波器取代声表面波(SAW)和单片晶体滤波器(MCFs)的可行性。尽管射频(RF)前端和基带处理器等收发信机模块快速创新，但中频(IF)带通滤波技术几十年来一直处于相对静止状态。传统的滤光片由奇异的晶体基板制成，体积庞大，价格昂贵，无法满足行业对小型化高性能解决方案的需求。CMR滤光器在硅衬底上加工，其工作频率由光刻定义的特征设置，可以比传统技术小一个数量级，成本更低，并提供更好的性能。研究目标是展示满足客户要求的VHF CMR滤波器，并将通过改进谐振器设计以提高品质因数、实施滤波器设计改进以及建立适合制造的微制造工艺来实现。这些改进将产生插入损耗小于2分贝、抑制大于80分贝、直接50W匹配、高功率处理、出色的相位线性度和高度可扩展的微制造工艺的滤波器。该项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力包括通过补充射频微机械系统(MEMS)、电声学和薄膜制造技术领域的知识，以及通过实现无线收发器设计的范式转变，为技术理解做出贡献。拟议的IF CMR滤波器解决方案为通信电子产品制造商提供了一个极具吸引力的价值主张，它将组件尺寸和重量减少了几个数量级，通过减少滤波器插入损耗和更高的抑制来实现更低的功耗和更高的灵敏度，最终通过大大低于其SAW滤波器和MCF竞争对手的成本实现了这一点。中频滤波器市场低估了真正的商业潜力，因为CMR技术可扩展到射频滤波器和时钟谐振器和振荡器。CMR IF过滤器的潜在市场为每年2.5亿美元，包括通信、消费电子、汽车、工业和航空航天/军事部门。几家大型电子公司已经对拟议的技术写了正式的意向书。拟议的CMR技术通过促进低成本、高性能无线通信设备的扩散以及通过创造就业和财富而产生广泛的社会影响。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will investigate the feasibility of using piezoelectric aluminum nitride contour mode resonator (CMR) filters to replace surface acoustic wave (SAW) and monolithic crystal filters (MCFs) at very high frequencies (VHF). Despite rapid innovation in transceiver blocks such as the radio frequency (RF) front-end and baseband processor, intermediate frequency (IF) bandpass filter technology has been relatively static for decades. Legacy filters, which are made from exotic crystalline substrates, remain bulky and expensive, and cannot meet industry demand for miniaturized high performance solutions. CMR filters, which are processed on silicon substrates and have their operating frequency set by lithographically defined features, can be orders of magnitude smaller and less expensive than and offer improved performance over legacy technologies. The research objective is to demonstrate VHF CMR filters that meet customer requirements, and will be accomplished by improving the resonator design to increase the quality factor, implementing filter design enhancements, and establishing a microfabrication process suitable formanufacturing. These improvements will result in filters with insertion loss less than 2 dB, rejection greater than 80 dB, direct 50 W matching, high power handling, excellent phase linearity, and a highly scalable microfabrication process.The broader impact / commercial potential of this project includes contributions to technological understanding by supplementing the body of knowledge in the fields of RF micromachined electromechanical systems (MEMS), electro-acoustics, and thin-film fabrication technology, and by enabling paradigm shifts in wireless transceiver design. The proposed IF CMR filter solutions provide a compelling value proposition to communication electronicsmanufacturers by offering up to several orders of magnitude reduction in component size and weight, by enabling lower power consumption and higher sensitivity via reduced filter insertion loss and higher rejection, and ultimately, by costing substantially less than their SAW filter andMCF competitors. The IF filter market understates the true commercial potential since CMR technology is scalable to RF filters and clock resonators and oscillators. The addressable market for CMR IF filters is $250 million annually, and includes the communications, consumer electronics, automotive, industrial, and aerospace / military sectors. Several large electronicscompanies have written formal letters of interest in the proposed technology. The proposed CMR technology has broad societal impact by facilitating the proliferation of low cost, highperformance wireless communication devices and through job and wealth creation.