Miniaturized Reconfigurable Microfabricated Waveguide Circuits

加拿大的信息和通信产业是一个具有战略意义的国家利益领域，特别是在无线领域。例如，根据加拿大工业部的统计数据（NAICS类别33422），加拿大的无线和通信设备制造业从2002年到2011年平均每年增长12.5%。对移动应用程序和设备、多媒体和卫星服务以及无线传感器的需求不断增加，推动了市场的发展。射频系统是任何这些技术的关键和实质性部分，并负责有效地接收、滤波和发送高频信号在其收发器的前端。***最近，基于晶圆级薄膜和微/纳米技术的系统已被用于超越传统设备的极限，并为具有卓越性能的小型化集成系统铺平了道路。微/纳米技术有三个独特的特点，吸引了无线电频率界的高度关注。这些特点是小型化、多功能性和微电子兼容性。小型化显然是微/纳米技术的重要组成部分，它允许构建尺寸极小但性能优异的组件和子系统。在微加工过程中，多重性是固有的，它允许同时创建数百或数千个组件，并且像创建一个组件一样容易。微电子兼容性允许微机械系统与微电子在单个芯片上的单片集成，具有成本，尺寸，可靠性和性能方面的优势。在本研究中，微技术的优势将用于推进毫米波前端系统。这些好处来自于机械系统在微观尺度上的良好缩放行为以及它们传输射频信号的能力。我们将开发包含微电子机械元件的高品质小型化毫米波可重构晶圆级波导系统。最终目标是使结构具有较小的外形尺寸，并能够根据需求调整传递函数。在许多情况下，这种组件不仅可以大大减小尺寸、重量、功耗和组件数量，而且还可以保证卓越的性能和额外的功能。

The information and communications industry in Canada is an area of strategic national interest that is enjoying phenomenal growth, especially in the wireless sector. For example, wireless and communications equipment manufacturing in Canada has experienced a 12.5% average annual growth from 2002-2011, according to Industry Canada statistics (NAICS category 33422) [1]. The market continues to be fueled by increased demand for mobile applications and devices, multi-media and satellite services, and wireless sensors. Radio frequency systems are a critical and substantive portion of any of these technologies, and are responsible for efficiently receiving, filtering, and sending the high frequency signals at the front end of their transceivers. ***Recently, wafer-level thin film and micro/nano technology-based systems have been used to surpass the limits of conventional devices and pave the way for miniaturized integrated systems with superior performance. There are three unique features of micro/nano technology that attract a high level of attention in the radio frequency community. These characteristics are miniaturization, multiplicity, and microelectronics compatibility. Miniaturization is clearly an important part of micro/nano technology, allowing the construction of components and subsystems that are both extremely small in size and high in performance. Multiplicity is inherent in micro-machining processing, which allows hundreds or thousands of components to be created concurrently and as easily as one. Micro-electronic compatibility allows the monolithic integration of micromechanical systems with microelectronics on a single chip, with benefits to cost, size, reliability and performance. ***In this research, the benefits of micro-technology will be used to advance millimeter-wave front-end systems. These benefits arise from the favorable scaling behavior of mechanical systems to micro scale dimensions and their ability to transmit radio frequency signals. We will develop high quality miniaturized millimeter-wave reconfigurable wafer-level waveguide systems that incorporate microelectromechanical components. The ultimate goal is to have structures with small form factor and the capability of adapting the transfer function to demand. In many cases, such components would not only substantially reduce the size, weight, power consumption and component counts, but also promise superior performance and additional functionality.