CAREER: Harnessing Ferri- and Antiferro-Magnetism for Reconfigurable Wireless Transcievers

为了使5G和6G下一代无线系统能够让更多的用户同时使用，并且能够在全球范围内进行通信，收发器需要能够处理更多的通信频段，并在它们之间进行调谐。可重构收发器前端的完全集成需要可调谐的电气元件和可调谐的磁性元件。到目前为止，只有集成电（即电容）元件是可调的。这项研究旨在通过创建可调谐微波和毫米波磁性（即电感）组件来填补无线能力的关键空白。这些元件将采用可调谐微波电感和可调谐谐振波导的形式，采用单片集成磁电薄膜。这种独特设计的磁电薄膜将在比以前更高的频率下提供对磁导率和介电常数的直接原位和同步控制，从而有效地调节无线通信系统的谐振频率。通过将这些组件与收发器前端集成，该项目将展示它们在启用自适应微波和毫米波无线系统以提供广泛的5G和6G无线技术方面的影响。这种可重新配置的收发器有可能提高未来传感、医疗和农业系统的能力，并扩大获得优质教育的机会，从而提高全世界的生活水平。教育部分侧重于三个具体的举措，以增加URM对工程的兴趣、注册和保留。扩大现有的教学和指导工作，为大学一年级博士生开设年度博士技能研讨会课程，为本科生开设新的动手传感器设计课程，并开发社区参与课程来培养设备工程学生，以增加入学人数。外联活动包括在少年拘留中心为少年司法教师设立的工程教育倡议，该倡议已建立，并将通过RET项目加以扩展。该项目将以PI在开发可调谐千兆赫范围电感器和磁电谐振器方面的经验为基础，开发微波和毫米波领域的相应能力。研究目标包括使用铁磁CoFeB、铁磁Gd-Co合金、CoFeB/Ru/CoFeB合成反铁磁材料、交换偶联铁磁fe65co35芯/反铁磁壳纳米颗粒复合材料设计高q电感器和传输线。这些器件将进行磁导率、自共振频率和损耗正切测试，以评估微波和毫米波器件性能的最佳器件。从铁磁转向铁磁/反铁磁薄膜和复合材料，有望获得更高的材料带宽（高达30 GHz），但更低的磁导率（低于20）。随后，效率最高的微波和毫米波磁感应器和传输线将与收发器前端完全集成，以评估整个系统的性能。此外，将通过将选定的磁性材料与压电AlN相结合来开发自适应收发器功能，以创建集成可调谐磁电器件，并随后将其整合到集成收发器中，通过确定启用自适应5G和6G无线技术所需的优点数字来评估设备和系统性能。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。

For 5G and 6G next-generation wireless systems accessible to more simultaneous users and sufficiently versatile for worldwide communications, transceivers need to be able to handle more communication bands and tune between them. Full integration of reconfigurable transceiver front ends requires both tunable electric and tunable magnetic components. To date, only integrated electric (i.e., capacitive) components are tunable. This research aims to fill the critical gap in wireless capabilities by creating tunable microwave and millimeter-wave magnetic (i.e., inductive) components. These components will take the form of tunable microwave inductors and tunable resonant waveguides using monolithically integrated magnetoelectric thin films. The uniquely designed magnetoelectric thin films will provide direct in situ and simultaneous control over the permeability and permittivity at much higher frequencies than previously achievable in order to efficiently tune the resonance frequency of wireless communication systems. By integrating these components with transceiver front-ends, this project will demonstrate their impact in enabling adaptive microwave and mm-wave wireless systems for providing widespread 5G and 6G wireless technology. Such reconfigurable transceivers have the potential to increase the capabilities of future sensing, medical, and agricultural systems and broaden access to quality education, thereby improving the standard of living worldwide. The education component focuses on three specific initiatives for increasing URM interest, enrollment, and retention in engineering. Expanding the existing teaching and mentorship efforts through an annual Ph.D. skills seminar course for first year URM doctoral students, creating new hands-on sensors design course for undergraduates, and developing a community-engaged course to cultivate the students for device engineering to increase enrollment. Outreach activity include engineering education initiatives in juvenile detention centers for juvenile justice teachers that has been previously established and will be extended through RET program. This project will build on the PI’s experience in developing tunable gigahertz-range inductors and magneto-electric resonators to develop corresponding capabilities in the microwave and mm-wave regime. Research objectives include design of high-Q magnetic inductors and transmission lines using ferromagnetic CoFeB, ferrimagnetic Gd–Co alloys, a synthetic antiferromagnet made of CoFeB/Ru/CoFeB, and exchange-coupled ferromagnetic Fe65Co35-core/antiferromagnetic-shell nanoparticle composites. These devices will be tested for permeability, self-resonance frequency, and loss tangent to evaluate the best one for microwave and mm-wave device performance. Higher material bandwidth (up to 30 GHz) but lower permeability (below 20) is expected by moving from ferromagnetic to ferrimagnetic/antiferromagnetic thin-films and composites. Subsequently, the highest-efficiency, microwave and mm-wave magnetic inductors and transmission lines will be fully-integrated with transceiver front-ends to evaluate the performance of the complete system. In addition, adaptive transceiver capabilities will be developed by combining the selected magnetic material with piezoelectric AlN to create integrated tunable magnetoelectric devices and will subsequently be incorporated into an integrated transceiver for evaluation of device and system performance by determining the figures of merit required to enable adaptive 5G and 6G wireless technologies.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.