Plasma-dynamics in Nano/Micro-Structures for RF to THz Applications

目的：从理论上和实验上研究和量化等离子体动力学效应，包括性能退化和长期失效模式，用于MHz至1000s GHz的射频场的微纳米结构。知识优势：微/纳米间隙在各种RF MEMS中很常见，例如可调谐滤波器，变容管和谐振器。高射频场可能诱发气体击穿和电离，导致许多这些设备的性能下降和/或失效。此外，在许多MEMS中遇到的条件导致了一种全新类型的等离子体，在几种场发射驱动的放电机制之间具有动态跃迁：电子隧穿，离子增强和电子雪崩。因此，我们计划1)发展对控制等离子体动力学的关键物理现象的基本理解；2)量化微等离子体在微/纳米间隙中的潜在长期影响/失效模式以及MEMS/NEMS中的诱导失效模式；3)创建全面的多域物理建模和仿真框架，以紧凑有效的方式捕获潜在的微等离子体效应。更广泛的影响：本研究预计将对各种N/MEMS器件的设计和失效模式的理解产生变革性影响。此外，除了将我们的研究整合到课程活动中，我们计划广泛利用memsHUB门户网站，通过在线仿真工具将本研究的结果传播给MEMS社区。这对于弥合基础等离子体科学和微系统工程师之间的差距至关重要。我们还计划支持本科生的努力，吸引/留住美国少数民族学生。

Objective: The objective is to theoretically and experimentally investigate and quantify plasma-dynamics effects, including performance degradation and long-term failure modes, for micro- and nano-structures with RF fields in the MHz to 100s GHz. Intellectual Merit: Micro/nano-gaps are common in a wide variety of RF MEMS such as tunable filters, varactors, and resonators. High RF fields may induce gas breakdown and ionization leading to performance degradation and/or failure in many of these devices. Moreover, conditions encountered in many MEMS lead to an entirely new type of plasmas with dynamic transition between several field-emission driven discharge regimes: electron tunneling, ion enhancement and electron avalanche. As a result, we plan to 1) Develop the fundamental understanding of the key physical phenomena that govern plasmadynamics; 2) Quantify potential long-term effects/failure modes of microplasma in micro/nano-gaps and the induced failure modes in MEMS/NEMS; and 3) Create comprehensive, multiple-domain physics modeling and simulation framework that captures the underlying microplasma effects in a compact and efficient manner. Broader Impact: This research is expected to have a transformative impact on the design and understanding of failure modes of a wide variety of N/MEMS devices. Furthermore, besides integrating our research into curricula activities, we plan to make extensive use of the memsHUB web portal to disseminate results from this study to the MEMS community through online simulation tools. This is expected to be critical in bridging the gap between fundamental plasma science and microsystems engineers. We also plan to support undergraduate students efforts and attract/retain U.S. minority students.