Investigating the System-Level Dynamics of Fully-Integrated CMOS-SOI Nanoresonators

随着CMOS三极管的规模化，机电系统正在经历迅速和显著的亚微米小型化。谐振纳米机电系统(NEMS)引起了人们的特别兴趣，因为它们允许访问微波频率和纳秒响应时间，以及其他相关指标。这些前所未有的特性正在推动NEMS在信号处理、电测以及化学和生物传感方面潜在的开创性应用。尽管谐振式NEMS在这些应用中具有巨大的潜力，但它们的广泛实施目前受到以下因素的阻碍：(I)对其复杂的动态行为的有限的系统级了解，(Ii)器件到器件性能的不规则性，以及(Iii)与现有CMOS制造技术的普遍不兼容。这项工作试图通过高度可调的、自上而下制造的谐振纳米系统的建模、设计、制造和表征来解决这些缺陷，这些纳米系统可以与现有的CMOS技术集成。具体地说，这项工作旨在开发完全集成的、静电驱动的器件，这种器件可以使用商业半导体工艺流程重复复制。为此，将使用绝缘体上硅工艺设计和制造单栅和双栅纳米谐振器，并随后与能够提供片上驱动、信号调节、响应表征和器件调谐的CMOS电路集成。然后将开发两个纳米级硬件平台，一个通道选择射频接收器和一个气相化学传感器，它们有利地利用系统固有的非线性行为，以评估所提出的系统级建模、分析、设计和开发方法的优点。总体而言，这一努力不仅应该提供与全集成纳米谐振器系统相关的复杂动力学行为的洞察，包括在嘈杂的多物理环境中运行的附带电子设备，而且还应该推动当前纳米制造技术的现状。此外，这项努力应该通过与基于NSF计算纳米技术网络的NanHUB和普渡大学的暑期本科生研究奖学金(SURF)计划的现有网络基础设施的新的教育努力的分层整合，产生更广泛的影响。具体地说，这项工作的私营部门将(I)开发和部署一个全面的软件工具，用于模拟集成的SOI-cmos谐振纳米系统；以及(Ii)开发和分发与集成纳米系统有关的新课程材料和流媒体视频讲座，这将包括在私营部门关于微型和纳米系统的机械课程中。PI预计，世界各地的数百名学生和科学家将利用这些资源来加深他们对纳米谐振器的系统水平的了解。值得注意的是，教育工作还将包括通过SURF计划安排的三个本科生研究经验。这些为期一个暑假的密集体验将专门针对未被充分代表的学生。

Following the scaling of CMOS transistors, electromechanical systems are undergoing a rapid and remarkable miniaturization into the sub-micron regime. Resonant nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) are eliciting particular interest because they allow access to microwave frequencies and nanosecond response times, amongst other pertinent metrics. These unprecedented properties are fueling the potentially ground-breaking application of NEMS in signal processing, electrometry, and chemical and biological sensing. Despite their significant potential in these applications, the widespread implementation of resonant NEMS is currently impeded by: (i) a limited, system-level understanding of their complex dynamic behaviors, (ii) device-to-device performance irregularity, and (iii) a general incompatibility with existing CMOS fabrication technologies. This effort seeks to address these deficiencies through the modeling, design, fabrication, and characterization of highly-tunable, top-down fabricated, resonant nanosystems, which can be integrated with existing CMOS technologies. Specifically, the work seeks to develop fully-integrated, electrostatically-actuated devices, which can be repeatedly reproduced using commercial semiconductor process flows. To this end, single- and dual-gate nanoresonators will be designed and fabricated using a silicon-on-insulator process and subsequently integrated with CMOS circuits capable of providing on-chip actuation, signal conditioning, response characterization, and device tuning. Two nanoscale hardware platforms, a channel-select RF receiver and a gas-phase chemical sensor, which advantageously leverage the systems' inherently nonlinear behaviors, will then be developed to evaluate the merits of the proposed system-level modeling, analysis, design, and development approach. Overall, this effort should not only provide insight into the complex dynamical behaviors associated with a fully-integrated nanoresonator system, including attendant electronics, operating in a noisy, multi-physics environment, but also push forward the status of current nanofabrication technology. In addition, the effort should have broader impact through hierarchical integration with new educational efforts founded upon the existing cyber-infrastructure of the NSF Network for Computational Nanotechnology's nanoHUB and Purdue's Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) program. Specifically, the effort's PIs will (i) develop and deploy a comprehensive software tool for the simulation of integrated SOI-CMOS resonant nanosystems; and (ii) develop and distribute new course materials and streaming video lectures associated with integrated nanosystems, which will be included in the PI's course on the Mechanics of Micro- and Nanosystems. The PIs anticipate that hundreds of students and scientists worldwide will utilize these resources to further their system-level understanding of nanoresonators. It is important to note that the educational effort will also incorporate three undergraduate research experiences arranged through the SURF program. These summer-long, intensive experiences will specifically target under-represented students.