Modeling and Performance Optimization of mm-wave Frequency Synthesizers

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。本研究的目的是研究一类新的毫米波锁相环（pll）用于超宽带应用。目前的毫米波锁相环是基于注入锁定分频器的，它有许多锁定限制，影响其工作范围。这些限制转化为有限的数据速率通信，以及成像和光谱应用中的低分辨率。这项工作提出了毫米波锁相环设计的根本改变，通过使用N-push操作将振荡器和注入锁定分频器的功能结合起来。该提案的智力价值体现在其为毫米波应用开发新电路技术的目标上，该技术有效地利用了可用的宽带，并使其能够在毫米波/太赫兹边界的更高频率下运行。该方法有望将锁相环的工作范围提高一个数量级，并简化基振的设计和分频器的选择过程。一个成功的努力将为科学界提供设计和优化技术的新型锁相环拓扑与传统的架构相比，优越的性能。所提出的方法可用于稳定的宽带电子太赫兹源，具有许多应用，包括射电天文学，大气传感，生物研究，无线通信，雷达以及化学和爆炸物探测。本科生将参与实验工作。计划中的拓展活动包括为“设计你的未来日”（Design your Future Day）开发实践活动，这是一个为女高中生组织的年度研讨会。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).The objective of this research is to investigate a new class of mm-wave phase-locked loops (PLLs) for ultra-wide bandwidth applications. Current mm-wave PLLs are based on injection-locked frequency dividers, which have many locking limitations that affect their operating range. These limitations translate to limited data rate communications, and low resolution in imaging and spectroscopy applications. This work proposes a fundamental change in the design of mm-wave phase locked loops, combining the functions of the oscillator and injection-locked frequency divider through the use of N-push operation. The intellectual merit of this proposal is manifested in its goal of developing new circuit techniques for mm-wave applications that efficiently utilize the wide bandwidth available and lends itself to operation at even higher frequency at the mm-wave/THz boundary. The proposed approach is expected to achieve an order of magnitude improvement in the phased-locked-loop operation range and simplify the design of the fundamental oscillator and the selection process of the frequency divider.A successful effort will provide the scientific community with design and optimization techniques for novel PLL topologies with superior performance compared to traditional architectures. The proposed approach can be employed for stable, wideband electronic-based THz sources having numerous applications including radio astronomy, atmospheric sensing, biological research, wireless communications, radar, and chemical and explosives detection. Undergraduate students will be involved in the experimental work. Planned outreach activities include developing hands-on activities for "Design your Future Day," an annual workshop organized for female high school students.