EAGER: High Performance Silicon based Terahertz Front End Circuits for Chip-to-Chip Interconnect

EAGER：用于芯片间互连的高性能硅基太赫兹前端电路

• 批准号: 1348883
• 负责人: Qun Jane Gu
• 金额: $ 29.93万
• 依托单位: University of California-Davis
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2013-09-01 至 2017-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1348883&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: EAGER; Performance; Silicon; based; Terahertz

EAGER: High Performance Silicon based Terahertz Front End Circuits for Chip-to-Chip Interconnect AbstractIntellectual Merit: The objective of this EAGER proposal is to investigate silicon based terahertz front end circuit design techniques, which will eventually lead to THz interconnects and solve the long-standing interconnect issue. The Chip-to-chip interconnect gap, which is between the ever-increasing bandwidth requirement and the limited number of I/O pins, has been a bottleneck for computer and embedded systems over decades and is getting more and more challenging with the increase of processing speed in advanced technologies. The THz spectrum holds great promise in the chip-to-chip interconnect area due to its ultra-wide bandwidth to support aggregate data rates orders of magnitude higher than existing interconnect capabilities. As the mainstream technologies for computer and embedded systems, silicon processes are the right technologies. However, the disadvantages of silicon processes, such as low supply voltages, large losses, and low cut-off frequencies, demand new design ideas to overcome these shortages. Therefore, this project will investigate two enabling techniques: (1) LO injected Schottky barrier diode (SBD) based mixing with high efficiency regenerative amplification receiving front end design, successfully demonstrated regenerative receiving structure; and (2) high power THz transmitter front end circuits, based on the proven high power generation scheme based on optimum signal conditions and low loss varactor-based modulation method. The circuit design techniques and methodologies are transformative, which can also apply to other high frequency circuits and systems in different processes.Broader Impacts: The success of silicon based THz front end circuits will eventually lead to THz interconnects, providing orders-of-magnitude better interconnect bandwidth density to address the bottleneck problem from interconnects. Therefore, it will support new computer architecture to meet the fast increasing data rate requirement in BIG DATA era. Furthermore, the successful technology developments will also open tremendous opportunities for a wide variety of important other THz applications by advancing THz technologies with high power, low noise and small form factors. For instance, it can enable portable THz devices for THz medical diagnosis for early disease detection; it can advance pharmaceutical and drug development through THz monitoring devices. These applications will not only advance scientific research, but also greatly benefit our daily lives and societies. The research results will be widely disseminated through international conferences and high impact journals. Both PIs are committed to engaging and retaining students from under-represented groups into engineering areas and will further extend outreach to local K-12 school students.

急切：基于芯片芯片芯片互连的高性能Terahertz前端电路AbstractIntl​​ectual功绩：这项渴望的建议的目的是研究基于硅的Terahertz前端电路设计技术，最终将导致THZ互连并解决长期存在的互连问题。芯片到芯片互连差距在不断增加的带宽需求与I/O销量有限的I/O销之间一直是数十年来计算机和嵌入式系统的瓶颈，并且随着高级技术中的处理速度的提高，越来越具有挑战性。 THZ频谱在CHIP到芯片互连区域中具有巨大的希望，这是由于其超宽带宽，以支持比现有互连功能高的汇总数据速率订单。作为用于计算机和嵌入式系统的主流技术，硅过程是正确的技术。 但是，硅过程的缺点，例如低供应电压，大损失和低截止频率，需要新的设计思想来克服这些短缺。因此，该项目将研究两种启示技术：（1）基于高效率再生放大的前端设计，基于LO注射的Schottky屏障二极管（SBD）混合，成功证明了再生接收结构； （2）基于最佳信号条件和低损耗基于变量的调制方法的经过验证的高功率生成方案，高功率THZ发射器前端电路。电路设计技术和方法论是变革性的，也可以适用于不同过程中的其他高频电路和系统。Boader的影响：基于硅的THZ前端电路的成功最终将导致THZ互连，从而为杂种级提供更好的互连带宽，以解决互联互联网的问题。因此，它将支持新的计算机体系结构，以满足大数据时代的快速增加数据速率需求。此外，成功的技术发展还将通过高功率，低噪声和小型颜料来推进THZ技术，为各种重要的其他THZ应用开放巨大的机会。例如，它可以使便携式THZ设备用于THZ医学诊断，以进行早期疾病检测。它可以通过THZ监测设备推进药物和药物开发。这些应用不仅会推进科学研究，而且会极大地使我们的日常生活和社会受益。研究结果将通过国际会议和高影响期刊广泛传播。这两个PI都致力于将学生从代表性不足的群体中吸引和留住到工程领域，并将进一步向当地的K-12学校学生扩展。