GOALI: Transparent Beam Steering Antennas Enabled by Graphene Quantum Capacitance Varactors

GOALI：由石墨烯量子电容变容二极管实现的透明波束控制天线

基本信息

批准号：
1708275
负责人：
Steven Koester
金额：
$ 33万
依托单位：
University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
依托单位国家：
美国
项目类别：
Standard Grant
财政年份：
2017
资助国家：
美国
起止时间：
2017-09-01 至 2022-08-31
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1708275&HistoricalAwards=false
关键词：
GOALI Transparent Beam Steering Antennas

项目摘要

The project intends to create a revolutionary transparent beam-steering antenna technology for use in self-driving vehicles. The project utilizes the artificial impedance surface antenna which is ideally suited for integration into automobile window glass due to its low cost and simple design. The key innovation is to utilize the nanomaterial graphene to create a variable capacitance tuning element that can be integrated directly onto the antenna to enable beam steering while maintaining high performance and transparency. This work will lead to a new fundamental understanding of both the performance limits of graphene varactors as well as the novel antenna design and operation. It will provide new understanding of the frequency limits of graphene devices, and could open the door to new design concepts for transparent, steerable antennas. The project will also advance a technology of vital national importance that has the potential to minimize traffic-related deaths, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, enable unprecedented mobility for vision-impaired individuals, reduce traffic congestion, and improve business productivity. The project will also provide an ideal platform for outreach activities, with the industrial interaction providing a natural means to educate graduate students on the automotive applications of millimeter-wave components. This program will also aid in the incorporation of graphene into the undergraduate electrical engineering curriculum at Minnesota, and provides an excellent example of a cross-disciplinary problem, incorporating aspects of solid-state devices and electromagnetism. In addition, K-12 educational programs will be developed that include graphene-based hands-on activities as well as information about self-driving vehicles and automobile safety.This project will explore the creation of a transformative technology where graphene variable capacitors (varactors) are directly integrated onto artificial impedance surfaces to enable beam steering antennas operating at millimeter-wave frequencies. The project integrates two technologies that, to date, had not been previously combined: (1) artificial impedance surface antennas which have great potential for low cost and beam steering capabilities due to their simple design and (2) graphene varactors, which provide an elegant method to incorporate tuning elements for beam steering and are also transparent. The research scope and methods include the following aspects. A new fabrication process for short-channel-length graphene varactors will be developed to enable high-speed operation at millimeter-wave frequencies. A process will also be developed to monolithically integrate graphene varactors with artificial impedance surface antennas to create steerable antennas. Finally, transparent antennas will be fabricated and characterized using a metal meshing strategy and their performance will be compared to opaque antennas. The intellectual significance of this project is that it will lead to a fundamental understanding of high-speed graphene device and antenna technology. It will explore the performance limits of graphene varactors at millimeter-wave frequencies, and advance the technology with wider tuning range, higher quality factor, and improved uniformity. A new integrated platform for beam steering antennas at millimeter-wave frequencies will be created, with the potential for enhanced performance compared to conventional approaches and a path toward practical implementation in autonomous vehicles.

该项目旨在创建一种革命性的透明梁传动天线技术，用于自动驾驶车辆。该项目利用人造阻抗表面天线，由于其低成本和简单的设计，因此非常适合将其集成到汽车窗玻璃中。关键创新是利用纳米材料石墨烯创建可变电容调谐元件，可以直接集成到天线上以实现束转向，同时保持高性能和透明度。这项工作将导致对石墨烯变量的性能限制以及新型天线设计和操作的新基本了解。它将提供对石墨烯设备的频率极限的新理解，并可以为透明，可辨的天线打开新设计概念的大门。该项目还将推进一项至关重要的国家重要性的技术，该技术有可能最大程度地减少与交通相关的死亡，减少温室气体排放，使视力障碍者的前所未有的流动性，减少交通拥堵，并提高业务生产力。该项目还将为外展活动提供理想的平台，工业互动提供了一种自然手段，可以教育研究生毫米波组件的汽车应用。该计划还将有助于将石墨烯纳入明尼苏达州的本科电气工程课程，并提供了一个跨学科问题的一个很好的例子，并结合了固态设备和电磁作用的各个方面。此外，还将开发K-12教育计划，其中包括基于石墨烯的动手活动以及有关自动驾驶汽车和汽车安全的信息。该项目将探索创建的变革性技术，其中石墨烯可变电容器（变量）直接集成到人工障碍物表面上，以启用光束方向盘方向转向Antennas在Millimeter Wave-Wave-Wave-Wave-Wave Pomerence中运行。该项目集成了两种迄今为止尚未合并的技术：（1）人造阻抗表面天线，由于其简单设计以及（2）石墨烯变量，它们具有低成本和梁转向能力的巨大潜力，（2）石墨烯变量可提供一种优雅的方法，可为梁转向进行调谐元件，并且也是透明的。研究范围和方法包括以下方面。将开发用于短通道长度石墨烯变量的新制造过程，以在毫米波频率下实现高速操作。还将开发一个过程，以单层次将石墨烯变量与人工阻抗表面天线整合起来，以创建可靠的天线。最后，将使用金属网格划分策略对透明的天线进行制造和表征，并将其性能与不透明的天线进行比较。该项目的智力意义在于，它将导致对高速石墨烯设备和天线技术的基本理解。它将探索石墨烯变量在毫米波频率下的性能限制，并以更广泛的调整范围，更高质量的因子和提高的均匀性来推进技术。将创建一个新的在毫米波频率的梁转向天线的集成平台，与常规方法和在自动驾驶汽车中实现实施的途径相比，具有提高性能的潜力。