A NEW PHONONIC CRYSTAL MATERIAL AND DEVICE PLATFORM FOR COMPACT AND RECONFIGURABLE RF SIGNAL PROCESSING

本研究的主要目标是解决在射频频率下实现基于声子晶体（PnC）的无线信号处理器件的几个主要挑战：1)放宽极端几何和制造限制；2)开发基于表面声波的实用声子晶体（PnC）器件，消除对薄膜和切割的需要；3)开发高效的低阻抗静电可调谐PnC晶体器件，有可能消除对压电材料的需求。为了实现这些目标，我们将开发一种新的PnC材料平台，该平台基于薄板材料或无限基板（用于表面波）上的柱状结构阵列，这也构成了这项工作的智力优势。提出的材料平台将用于演示L波段（即1 -2 GHz）频率的芯片级频谱分析。

The main goal of this research is to address several main challenges in the realization of practical phononic crystal (PnC)-based devices for wireless signal processing at RF frequencies by 1) relaxing the extreme geometry and fabrication constrains, 2) developing practical PnC devices based on surface acoustic-waves that eliminate the need for thin film and undercutting, and with the broad impact of 3) developing efficient low-impedance electro-statically tunable PnC crystals devices that can potentially eliminate the need for piezoelectric materials. To achieve these goals we will develop a new PnC material platform based on an array of pillar structure on a thin slab material or on an infinite substrate (for surface waves) that also constitute the intellectual merits of this effort. The proposed material platform will be used to demonstrate chip-scale spectral analysis at the L band (i.e., 1 -2 GHz) frequencies.