Development of temperature-stable, high-performance silicon resonators

开发温度稳定的高性能硅谐振器

• 批准号: 567657-2021
• 负责人: Bahreyni, Behraad
• 金额: $ 13.78万
• 依托单位: Simon Fraser University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Alliance Grants
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2021-01-01 至 2022-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=723586
• 关键词: Development; temperature; stable; performance; silicon

Our reliance on smart systems in the form of IoT modules, wearables, and mobile computing platforms is rapidly growing, where billions of such systems are sold annually. These complex systems rely on silicon micromechanical or microelectronic devices that are integrated at the chip, package, or board levels. These independent systems utilize reference oscillators to synchronize events or communicate between each other and with other systems. Quartz resonators are presently used to realize these reference oscillators and account for most of the US $7.5B timing market. However, since quartz resonators cannot be integrated within silicon microsystems, there has been a significant effort to develop silicon resonators to replace quartz. The high temperature sensitivity of silicon resonators has been the major obstacle to their adoption in timing references. Despite numerous laboratory demonstrations, most proposed solutions do not evolve into scalable manufacturing solutions. On the one hand, the work in academia has often relied on sparse empirical data and pursued in isolation from the constraints of large-scale manufacturing. On the other hand, process optimization is a complex, multi-variable problem that cannot be solved through limited experiments. This project brings together the researchers at SFU with a motivated industrial partner, Stathera, to develop scalable, passive temperature compensation techniques to rival or exceed the performance of quartz crystals. The team will develop multiscale, physics-based models for the thermal response of silicon under different processing parameters. These models will be evaluated experimentally through fabrication runs at SFU. The most promising solutions will then be tried through foundry runs. The results will be used to improve models and devise device design methods for future product development.The multidisciplinary nature of the proposed research will appeal to researchers from diverse backgrounds. By carefully considering and attending to equity and inclusivity issues, this project creates an excellent opportunity to train 12 HQP who will lead Canada's engagement in this field.

我们对物联网模块、可穿戴设备和移动计算平台等智能系统的依赖正在迅速增长，每年销售数十亿套此类系统。这些复杂的系统依赖于集成在芯片、封装或板级的硅微机械或微电子设备。这些独立的系统利用参考振荡器来同步事件或在彼此之间以及与其他系统之间进行通信。石英谐振器目前用于实现这些参考振荡器，占75亿美元计时市场的大部分。然而，由于石英谐振器不能集成在硅微系统中，人们一直在努力开发硅谐振器来取代石英。硅谐振器的高温敏感性一直是其在时序参考中应用的主要障碍。尽管有大量的实验室演示，但大多数提出的解决方案并没有演变成可扩展的制造解决方案。一方面，学术界的工作往往依赖于稀疏的经验数据，并且与大规模制造的限制隔离开来。另一方面，过程优化是一个复杂的、多变量的问题，不能通过有限的实验来解决。该项目将SFU的研究人员与一个积极的工业合作伙伴Stathera聚集在一起，开发可扩展的无源温度补偿技术，以媲美或超过石英晶体的性能。该团队将为不同工艺参数下硅的热响应开发多尺度、基于物理的模型。这些模型将通过SFU的制造运行进行实验评估。然后，最有希望的解决方案将通过代工运行进行试验。研究结果将用于改进模型和设计未来产品开发的设备设计方法。拟议研究的多学科性质将吸引来自不同背景的研究人员。通过仔细考虑和关注公平和包容性问题，该项目为培养12名HQP创造了绝佳的机会，他们将领导加拿大在这一领域的参与。