SNM: Large-area Manufacturing of Integrated Devices with Nanocomposite Magnetic Cores

正如摩尔定律所预言的那样，在过去的几十年里，集成电路的尺寸大幅缩小，使得现在日常使用的便携式手持设备成为可能。然而，为这些设备供电的组件并没有经历类似的尺寸缩小。例如，笔记本电脑的电源适配器只比二十年前小一点点，智能手机内部的印刷电路板必须将20%到40%的电路板面积用于电源转换和管理。迄今为止，小型化的努力受到材料和制造挑战的限制。为了解决这一差距，本研究将研究纳米制造工艺，以促进高质量磁性纳米颗粒和纳米复合核心材料的可扩展合成，以及通过组装这些纳米材料以与当前制造工艺（如硅片或印刷电路板制造）兼容的方式制造紧凑型功率电感器和变压器。这种兼容性将实现完全集成和紧凑的片上系统或包中系统电源解决方案。这项研究将通过促进材料科学、化学工程和电气工程等学科之间的合作来完成。它将通过让高中生和本科生参与研究活动，以及通过包容和参与妇女和代表性不足的群体来扩大参与，从而促进该专业的多样性。该项目的总体目标是研究合成和纳米制造工艺，以克服现有的集成挑战，同时提供突破性的高频磁性。目的是研究具有高磁饱和度和低损耗的材料。这将通过利用磁性材料在纳米尺度上的独特特性来实现，通过结合纳米制造方法，从自下而上的合成到定向组装和纳米复合材料的形成。具体目标是：(i)通过阐明合成参数和纳米颗粒性质之间的潜在相关性，利用可重复合成的磁性接近体的近乎无缺陷纳米晶体的最新进展，通过热分解途径扩大高质量磁性纳米颗粒的合成；（ii）研究通过介质电泳将磁性纳米颗粒定向组装到紧凑型功率电感/变压器中的方法；（iii）通过大规模电渗透额外的铁磁材料，证明了双相纳米复合材料芯的形成。该项目的预期结果是通过在硅片上使用所开发的方法进行微电感器器件的全晶圆批量制造来证明可扩展性。从商业角度来看，纳米制造技术为电力应用提供了可集成的高性能磁性元件，有可能影响每年近120亿美元的市场。

As predicted by Moore's "law", the past few decades have seen massive reductions in the size of integrated circuits, enabling the portable, handheld devices now in everyday use. However, the components that power these devices have not experienced a similar size reduction. For example, the power adapter of a laptop computer is only modestly smaller than that two decades ago, and the printed circuit board inside a smart phone must dedicate between 20% and 40% of the board area for power conversion and management. To date, efforts towards miniaturization have been limited by both materials and manufacturing challenges. To address this gap, this research will study nanomanufacturing processes to facilitate the scalable synthesis of high quality magnetic nanoparticles and nanocomposite core materials and the fabrication of compact power inductors and transformers through assembly of these nanomaterials in a manner that is compatible with current manufacturing processes, such as silicon wafer or printed circuit board fabrication. This compatibility will enable fully integrated and compact system-on-chip or system-in-package power solutions. This research will be accomplished by fostering collaboration among disciplines including materials science, chemical engineering and electrical engineering. It will foster diversity in the profession by involving high school and undergraduate students in research activities and by broadening participation through the inclusion and engagement of women and underrepresented groups.The overarching goal of this project is to study synthetic and nanomanufacturing processes that overcome existing integration challenges while affording breakthrough, high-frequency magnetic performance. An aim is to research materials that exhibit high magnetic saturation and low loss. This will be accomplished by leveraging the unique properties of magnetic materials at the nanoscale through a combination of nanomanufacturing approaches spanning bottom-up synthesis to directed assembly and nanocomposite formation. The specific objectives are to: (i) scale-up synthesis of high quality magnetic nanoparticles via thermal decomposition routes by elucidating the underlying correlations between synthesis parameters and nanoparticle properties, leveraging recent developments in the reproducible synthesis of near defect-free nanocrystals with magnetic properties approaching those of the bulk; (ii) study methods for large-scale directed assembly of magnetic nanoparticles via dielectrophoresis into compact power inductors/transformers; and (iii) demonstrate the formation of bi-phasic nanocomposite cores through large-scale electro-infiltration of an additional ferromagnetic material. An expected outcome of this project is to demonstrate scalability through the full-wafer batch-fabrication of microinductor devices using the developed methods on a silicon wafer. From a commercial standpoint, nanomanufacturing technologies providing process-integrable, high-performance magnetic components for power application have the potential to impact a nearly $12B/year market.