I-Corps: Acoustic Filters for Next Generation Wireless Handsets

I-Corps项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发改善无线基础设施带宽的技术。世界各地的监管机构正在分配新的无线频谱，以支持不断增长的吞吐量需求。无线电系统将需要低损耗的宽带宽来满足整个数据需求。目前可用的手机滤波器技术无法在可接受的损耗下实现如此宽的带宽，从而导致次优的系统吞吐量。拟议的技术将无线电前端可用带宽增加两倍，以满足5G滤波器市场空间的需求。薄膜技术使系统能够实现宽带宽，低损耗，可以在外部铸造厂以经济高效的方式以高产量制造，并且可以在符合行业标准的外形因素中使用。I-Corps项目的基础是开发一种使用铌酸锂薄膜（LN）谐振器的射频滤波器技术。特别令人感兴趣的是LTE 77-79频段，它被定义为第五代蜂窝网络部署计划（5G）的一部分，服务于3.3 GHz - 5 GHz频谱。提出的技术探索了一种能够使用LN薄膜制造声学谐振器的微加工工艺的翻译。LN技术面临的主要挑战是确保在低成本制造过程中以5G频段（3-6 GHz）的目标频率运行。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of technologies to improve bandwidth in the wireless infrastructure. Regulatory agencies world-wide are allocating new wireless spectrum to support increasing throughput demands. Radio systems will require wide bandwidth with low loss to meet the demanded data throughout. Currently available handset filter technology is not able to achieve such wide bandwidth with acceptable loss, resulting in sub-optimum system throughput. The proposed technology triples the bandwidth available in a radio’s front-end to serve the needs of the 5G filter market space. The thin-film technology enables a system that achieves wide bandwidths, low loss, may be manufactured with high yields in a cost-efficient manner at external foundries, and can be used in a form factor consistent with industry standards. This I-Corps project is based on the development of a radio frequency filter technology that uses thin-films of lithium niobate (LN) resonators. Of particular interest are the LTE 77-79 bands defined as part of the 5th generation cellular network deployment plan (5G), which serves the 3.3 GHz - 5 GHz spectrum. The proposed technology explores translation of a microfabrication process capable of manufacturing acoustic resonators using thin-films of LN. The main challenge for the LN technology is ensuring operation at the frequency of interest for 5G bands (3-6 GHz) in a low-cost manufacturing process.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.