CAREER: Harnessing Ferri- and Antiferro-Magnetism for Reconfigurable Wireless Transcievers

对于5G和6 G下一代无线系统，可供更多的同时用户访问，并且对于全球通信具有足够的通用性，收发器需要能够处理更多的通信频段并在它们之间进行调谐。可重新配置的收发器前端的完全集成需要可调谐的电和可调谐的磁组件。到目前为止，只有集成电动（即，电容性）组件是可调谐的。这项研究旨在通过创建可调谐微波和毫米波磁（即，电感）组件。这些元件将采用单片集成磁电薄膜的可调谐微波电感器和可调谐谐振波导的形式。独特设计的磁电薄膜将在比以前可实现的频率高得多的频率下提供对磁导率和介电常数的直接原位和同时控制，以便有效地调谐无线通信系统的谐振频率。通过将这些组件与收发器前端集成，该项目将展示它们在实现自适应微波和毫米波无线系统以提供广泛的5G和6 G无线技术方面的影响。这种可重新配置的收发器有可能提高未来传感、医疗和农业系统的能力，扩大优质教育的覆盖面，从而提高全球的生活水平。教育部分侧重于三个具体举措，以提高URM的兴趣，入学率和保留工程。通过每年的博士学位，扩大现有的教学和指导工作。为URM一年级博士生开设技能研讨会课程，为本科生开设新的动手传感器设计课程，并开发社区参与课程，培养设备工程专业的学生，以增加入学人数。外联活动包括在少年拘留中心为少年司法教师开展的工程教育举措，这一举措以前已经确立，并将通过基金会方案予以推广。该项目将建立在PI在开发可调谐千兆赫范围电感器和磁电谐振器方面的经验基础上，以开发微波和毫米波领域的相应能力。研究目标包括使用铁磁CoFeB、亚铁磁Gd-Co合金、由CoFeB/Ru/CoFeB制成的合成反铁磁体以及交换耦合铁磁Fe 65 Co 35-核/反铁磁-壳纳米颗粒复合材料设计高Q磁性电感器和传输线。 将对这些器械的磁导率、自谐振频率和损耗角正切进行测试，以评估微波和毫米波器械性能的最佳器械。通过从铁磁到亚铁磁/反铁磁薄膜和复合材料的转变，预计材料的带宽会更高（高达30 GHz），但磁导率会更低（低于20）。随后，最高效率的微波和毫米波磁感应器和传输线将与收发器前端完全集成，以评估整个系统的性能。此外，本发明还提供了一种方法，自适应收发器能力将通过将选定的磁性材料与压电AlN相结合来开发，以创建集成的可调谐磁电器件，随后将被纳入集成收发器中，通过确定实现自适应5G和6 G无线技术所需的品质因数来评估设备和系统性能。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估来提供支持。

For 5G and 6G next-generation wireless systems accessible to more simultaneous users and sufficiently versatile for worldwide communications, transceivers need to be able to handle more communication bands and tune between them. Full integration of reconfigurable transceiver front ends requires both tunable electric and tunable magnetic components. To date, only integrated electric (i.e., capacitive) components are tunable. This research aims to fill the critical gap in wireless capabilities by creating tunable microwave and millimeter-wave magnetic (i.e., inductive) components. These components will take the form of tunable microwave inductors and tunable resonant waveguides using monolithically integrated magnetoelectric thin films. The uniquely designed magnetoelectric thin films will provide direct in situ and simultaneous control over the permeability and permittivity at much higher frequencies than previously achievable in order to efficiently tune the resonance frequency of wireless communication systems. By integrating these components with transceiver front-ends, this project will demonstrate their impact in enabling adaptive microwave and mm-wave wireless systems for providing widespread 5G and 6G wireless technology. Such reconfigurable transceivers have the potential to increase the capabilities of future sensing, medical, and agricultural systems and broaden access to quality education, thereby improving the standard of living worldwide. The education component focuses on three specific initiatives for increasing URM interest, enrollment, and retention in engineering. Expanding the existing teaching and mentorship efforts through an annual Ph.D. skills seminar course for first year URM doctoral students, creating new hands-on sensors design course for undergraduates, and developing a community-engaged course to cultivate the students for device engineering to increase enrollment. Outreach activity include engineering education initiatives in juvenile detention centers for juvenile justice teachers that has been previously established and will be extended through RET program. This project will build on the PI’s experience in developing tunable gigahertz-range inductors and magneto-electric resonators to develop corresponding capabilities in the microwave and mm-wave regime. Research objectives include design of high-Q magnetic inductors and transmission lines using ferromagnetic CoFeB, ferrimagnetic Gd–Co alloys, a synthetic antiferromagnet made of CoFeB/Ru/CoFeB, and exchange-coupled ferromagnetic Fe65Co35-core/antiferromagnetic-shell nanoparticle composites. These devices will be tested for permeability, self-resonance frequency, and loss tangent to evaluate the best one for microwave and mm-wave device performance. Higher material bandwidth (up to 30 GHz) but lower permeability (below 20) is expected by moving from ferromagnetic to ferrimagnetic/antiferromagnetic thin-films and composites. Subsequently, the highest-efficiency, microwave and mm-wave magnetic inductors and transmission lines will be fully-integrated with transceiver front-ends to evaluate the performance of the complete system. In addition, adaptive transceiver capabilities will be developed by combining the selected magnetic material with piezoelectric AlN to create integrated tunable magnetoelectric devices and will subsequently be incorporated into an integrated transceiver for evaluation of device and system performance by determining the figures of merit required to enable adaptive 5G and 6G wireless technologies.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.