"Integrated LTCC/MEMS Circuits for Small-Size, Light-Weight and Power-Efficient Intelligent RF Front-Ends"

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In recent years, École de technolgie supérieure (ÉTS), with support from Economic Development Canada, invested significant amounts of money to build and equip two co-located clean room facilities that house a Low Temperature Cofired Ceramics (LTCC) fabrication process, in one, and a Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) fabrication process, in the other. The LTCC facility, a first of its kind in Canada, includes a world class industrial grade fabrication chain while the MEMS facility houses state of the art microsystems fabrication equipment. LTCC allows the fabrication of circuits in a 3-dimensional fashion such that circuits can be made smaller and lighter. MEMS on the other hand can make circuits reconfigurable such that one circuit can serve multiple frequencies and multiple standards thus reducing the number or components needed in wireless terminals such as a smart phone. The present proposal aims at carrying out research using these facilities to develop new innovative radiofrequency circuits and devices commonly used in wireless and satellite communications. By combining LTCC and MEMS, we plan to develop new smarter, smaller, lighter weight and more power efficient circuits that can drive down cost while offering more performance. The personnel who will be trained under this program will be called upon to meet this objective by making a number of scientific and technological advancements and by developing a wide range of new skills in the design, fabrication and testing of these new circuits. A number of Canadian companies, federal laboratories and universities have expressed great interest in ÉTS's new facilities. The results of the proposed research program will help advance the existing prototyping processes techniques and develop new ones. This will in turn help meet industrial needs and will make collaborations with them easier and substantially more productive.