EFRI NewLAW: Non-Reciprocal, Parametric Amplification of Acoustic Waves for Future Generation of RF Front-Ends

这项提议利用半导体行业在电磁设备方面取得的进步，利用声波平台的新的时间反转对称破缺来开发与电磁设备相比更紧凑和更高效的创新设备。这些新的声学设备能够在不产生额外噪声的情况下在指定方向上路由波和/或放大它们，同时还与现有的声学设备兼容，以形成声学芯片？拟议的创新研究结合了电气工程和机械工程的概念，为我们未来工业面临的重要问题开发新的解决方案。这一混合研究计划通过强调下一代电磁设备所需的系统级优势系数和系统集成概念，为未来的无线组件开发了一个全新的范例。这种方法需要在传统上不同领域的电磁波和声波之间进行跨学科的互动，从而产生一个能够取得重大进展的混合团队。拟议的努力还包括对本科生和K-12学生的教育重点，重点是学生的教育经验，促进系统级混合工程概念。本科生将学习与本课程密切相关的射频工程应用。来自洛杉矶地区代表性不足的城市高中的更多学生将被纳入加州大学洛杉矶分校正在进行的暑期研究项目，这些项目纳入了系统级工程概念。这项研究中的潜在发现可能会给无线通信和传感器技术带来一场新的革命。这一进步代表着射频前端的小型化数量级，同时使整个系统从极小的外形尺寸到大幅降低的成本受益。这些进步促进了未来自动驾驶汽车和环境保护所需的电磁传感器和设备的更广泛部署。敏感、抗干扰的射频前端还可以满足杂乱环境中无线通信的最终需求，因为干扰和干扰一直是许多无线通信场景中的主要挑战。通过参数调制打破声波传播的时反对称性，在声波平台上实现了非互易性。拟议的努力将产生一种基于这一原理的新型声学设备，如声学放大器、混音器和环行器，在大幅缩小尺寸的同时，提供数量级的效率提高。这是通过利用(1)射频处声波的低速和小波长来减少传输线占地面积，(2)机械共振和声波传播的高品质因数以及减少阻性损耗来提高能源效率，以及(3)允许将能量电声耦合到单向传播波的创新设计来实现的。将这一全新的非互易概念与成熟的声表面波、体声波过滤器和延迟线领域相结合，将开发出新一代基于声波的集成电路。此外，该方法提供了新颖的信号处理功能，例如直接在RF执行时间相关和多径均衡，几乎没有噪声损失，这是目前无法获得的。这些集成电路器件一旦成功制造，将有助于未来的无线系统更敏感、更高效，但外形尺寸极小。

This proposal leverages the advancements made on electromagnetic devices developed by the semiconductor industry by exploiting new time-reversal symmetry breaking using an acoustic wave platform to develop innovative devices more compact and efficient compared to electromagnetic devices. These new acoustic devices are capable of routing waves in specified directions and/or amplifying them without generating additional noise while also being compatible with existing acoustic devices to form acoustic ?chips?. The proposed innovative research combines concepts from electrical engineering and mechanical engineering to develop new solutions for important problems facing our future industries. This hybrid research program develops an entirely new paradigm for future wireless components by emphasizing system level figures of merit and system integration concepts necessary for the next generation electromagnetic devices. This approach requires cross-disciplinary interactions between traditionally dissimilar fields of electromagnetic waves and acoustic waves yielding a hybrid team capable of significant advancements. The proposed efforts also include educational emphasis for both undergraduate and K-12 students focusing on student educational experiences promoting systems level hybrid engineering concepts. Undergraduate students will be introduced to RF engineering applications closely aligned with this program. Additional students from underrepresented urban high schools in the Los Angeles area will be incorporated into ongoing summer research programs available at UCLA that incorporate system-level engineering concepts. The potential discoveries present in this research can bring a new revolution to wireless communication and sensor technologies. This advancement represents an order of magnitude miniaturization in the RF front-end while benefiting the entire system from extremely small form factors to substantially reduced costs. These advancements facilitate a wider deployment of electromagnetic sensors and devices necessary for future autonomous vehicles and environmental protection. A sensitive, interference resilient RF front-end also meets the ultimate need of wireless communications in cluttered environments, as interference and jamming have been primary challenges in many wireless communication scenarios. By breaking time-reversal symmetry of acoustic wave propagation with parametric modulation, non-reciprocity is obtained on an acoustic wave platform. The proposed effort will yield a new class of acoustic devices based on this principle, such as acoustic amplifiers, mixers and circulators providing orders of magnitude improvement in efficiency while dramatically reducing sizes. This is achieved by leveraging (1) the slow velocity and small wavelength of acoustic waves at RF to reduce the transmission lines footprint and (2) the high quality factor of mechanical resonances and acoustic wave propagation as well as a reduction in resistive losses to increase energy efficiency and (3) innovative designs of grating structures allowing electro-acoustic coupling of the energy to unidirectional propagating waves. Combining this fundamentally new non-reciprocal concept with the well established field of Surface Acoustic Wave and Bulk Acoustic Wave filters and delay lines, a new generation of acoustic wave based integrated circuits will be developed. Furthermore, this approach provides novel signal processing functionalities such as performing time correlations and multipath equalizations directly at RF with almost no noise penalty, which are presently unavailable. These integrated circuit devices, once successfully made, will help the future wireless system to be more sensitive and have higher efficiency, yet with an extremely small form factor.