Collaborative Research: FuSe: Thermal Co-Design for Heterogeneous Integration of Low Loss Electromagnetic and RF Systems (The CHILLERS)

该项目的目的是促进用于设计和建造高频雷达和通信系统的工具和技术。特别值得关注的是在高功率水平下运行并需要某种形式的冷却以最大限度地延长运行寿命和提高效率的系统。这项研究将采用基于团队的联合设计方法，同时考虑电气、机械和热设计。拟议研究的潜在应用包括用于陆基和天基平台的下一代无线通信和传感(雷达)，特别是那些在恶劣环境中运行的平台。研究的一个更广泛的方面是了解利用先进方法加速此类复杂系统的建模和设计的机会。由于这一领域创新的独特性，将战略性教育培训计划纳入研究工作尤为重要。为了支持多样化、训练有素的劳动力队伍的发展，该项目将包括一项面向7-12年级学生的教育外展计划，该计划由参加基于服务的学习(SBL)活动的本科生和研究生提供支持。SBL活动将把研究和教育活动纳入外联工作。这些活动还将利用先进制造业教育的国家模式，并包括来自历史上被边缘化群体的参与者，并将使用形成性和总结性评估对结果进行评估。该项目将专注于通过裸片功率放大器、封装集成电路(例如用于可编程相控阵的波束形成IC)、用于直流偏置的集成无源和先进的热管理系统的异质集成，实现先进的功能和高性能的毫米波发射机单元。调查将包括使用一种结合了数值热和电磁模拟器的工具来共同设计热、3D插入器和电磁前端系统，并提供强大的新规格到CAD的能力。制造工艺可以包括多种添加剂制造和/或薄膜微制造方法之一。对于封装集成热管理系统，该项目将建立在添加剂制造的基本能力基础上，以研究一种新的方法，旨在将所研究的低成本3D封装的可实现毫米波功率密度潜在地比当前技术水平提高数个数量级。为了实现这一目标，将利用正式的联合设计方法以及对热、插入器和EM子系统的多保真贝叶斯联合优化。这种设计和优化过程将是推进具有不同集成要求的3D毫米波封装领域的有用工具。环境影响是绩效指标的一项关键目标功能，将通过提高系统可靠性(更长的运行周期和减少设备过早报废)、材料选择、最大限度地减少能源消耗和第二定律效率分析来解决。拟议研究的潜在应用包括用于陆基和天基平台的下一代无线通信和传感(雷达)，特别是那些在恶劣环境中运行的平台。规格到CAD的工具将有助于将包装和热管理原理扩展到超出本文重点的广泛应用范围。这项研究还将把可持续、低成本和可定制的添加剂制造工艺扩展到新的应用领域，包括先进毫米波系统的原型和潜在的低到中等规模的制造。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The aim of this project is to advance the tools and technology used to design and build high frequency radar and communication systems. Of particular interest are systems that operate at high power levels and require some form of cooling to maximize operational lifetime and efficiency. The research will be conducted with simultaneous consideration of electrical, mechanical and thermal design using a team-based co-design methodology. The potential applications of the proposed research include next generation wireless communications and sensing (radar) for land- and space-based platforms, especially those operating in harsh environments. A broader aspect of the research is understanding the opportunities to harness advanced methods to accelerate the modeling and design of such complex systems. Because of the uniqueness of innovation in this area, it is of particular importance that a strategic educational training program is integrated into the research effort. To support development of a diverse, well-trained workforce the project will include an educational outreach program for 7th-12th grade students that is supported by undergraduate and graduate students participating in service-based learning (SBL) activities. The SBL activities will integrate the research and education activities into the outreach effort. The activities will also leverage a national model for advanced manufacturing education and include participants from historically marginalized groups, and the outcomes will be evaluated using formative and summative assessments. The project will focus on achieving advanced function and high-performance mm-wave transmitter unit cells through heterogeneous integration of bare die power amplifiers, packaged integrated circuits (e.g., beamforming IC for programmable phased array), integrated passives for DC biasing, and advanced thermal management systems. The investigation will include the co-design of the thermal, 3D interposer and electromagnetic front-end systems using a tool that combines numerical thermal and electromagnetic simulators and provides a powerful new specifications-to-CAD capability. The fabrication processes may include one of multiple additive manufacturing and/or thin-film microfabrication methods. For the packaged-integrated thermal management system, the project will build on a foundational capability in additive manufacturing to investigate a new approach intended to increase the achievable mm-wave power density by potentially multiple orders of magnitude over current state of the art for the studied class of low-cost 3D packages. In order to meet this goal, a formal co-design methodology will be leveraged along with multi-fidelity Bayesian co-optimization of thermal, interposer and EM sub-systems. This design and optimization process will be a useful tool to advance the field of 3D mm-wave packages with heterogeneous integration requirements. Environmental impact is a critical objective function for the PIs and will be addressed through improvements to system reliability (longer operational lifecycles and reduced premature equipment retirement), material selection, minimizing energy consumption, and 2nd law efficiency analysis. The potential applications of the proposed research include next generation wireless communications and sensing (radar) for land- and space-based platforms, especially those operating in harsh environments. The specifications-to-CAD tool will help to extend the packaging and thermal management principles into a broad range of applications beyond those focused upon herein. The research will also expand the utility of sustainable, low cost and customizable additive manufacturing processes to new applications including prototyping and potentially low- to medium-scale manufacturing for advanced mm-wave systems.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.