EAGER: Exploring Graphene Mechanical Switch for Future RF ICs

EAGER：探索未来射频 IC 的石墨烯机械开关

• 批准号: 2302688
• 负责人: Albert Wang
• 金额: $ 20万
• 依托单位: University of California-Riverside
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-08-15 至 2025-07-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2302688&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: EAGER; Exploring; Graphene; Mechanical; Switch

Project Title:EAGER: Exploring Graphene Mechanical Switch for Future RF ICs(Proposal #: 2302688; PI: Albert Wang)Proliferation of wireless communications, enabled by semiconductor radio-frequency integrated circuits, has forever changed our life. Today, it is hardly to imagine a life without smartphone and wireless internet. The current pursuit for an “always connected” world in the emerging era of internet of everything demands for new generation (Next-G) wireless technologies, beyond the fifth generation (5G), which depends upon advanced radio-frequency integrated circuit chips to support higher frequencies, broader bandwidth, and more spectrum bands in order to achieve higher data rates, lower power consumption and shorter system latency. Imagine hundreds of users in the same area utilizing smartphones at the same time, how to avoid crosstalk in between? This is where a radio-frequency switch device will play a critical role in modern wireless communications, especially for Next-G wireless system. Unfortunately, the traditional semiconductor transistor based radio-frequency switch could not support Next-G wireless communications due to its inherent technical problems, such as poor crosstalk immunity and high signal loss, which will be addressed by the proposed research. This project will explore a disruptively new radio-frequency switch technology that utilizes a novel graphene-based microelectromechanical system switch to be designed and heterogeneous integrated into semiconductor integrated circuit platform to realize a new breed of switch devices featuring ultrahigh crosstalk isolation, ultralow signal propagation loss, ultrafast switching speed to support Next-G wireless communications. This two-year EAGER proposal will explore a revolutionarily new graphene-based mechanical switch concept to address the fundamental technical challenges inherent to semiconductor field-effect transistor (FET) based radio-frequency (RF) switch technologies, including poor isolation, high insertion loss, not suitable for next-generation (Next-G) wireless communications. The proposed new transfer-free graphene based bridge-contact mechanical switch (gSwitch) device structure will be designed and fabricated in complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) integrated circuit (IC) platform (CMOS-gSwitch) using heterogeneous integration (HI) technology. gSwitch device represents a disruptively new switching device with several novelties: gSwitch utilizes electrostatic actuation and bridge-contact ohmic contact on/off switching mechanisms to possibly realize an ideal switch with ultrahigh isolation in OFF state, super low insertion loss in ON state and negligible power consumption. The light mass density and high Young’s modulus of graphene membrane can potentially achieve pico-second level switching speed. The bridge-contact structure can potentially prevent the stiction problem. The excellent mechanical strength of graphene may ensure high endurance of gSwitch devices supporting billion switching cycles. This project has several tasks: Task-1 to prove the new gSwitch device concept; Task-2 to develop wafer-scale transfer-free metal-carbon-insulator interface based graphene-on-silicondioxide synthesis technology for making gSwitch devices on silicon wafers; Task-3 to develop a HI fabrication flow to integrate new gSwitch devices into CMOS; Task-4 to demonstrate RF switch ICs using gSwitch for Next-G systems; Task-5 to demonstrate a frequency mixer using gSwitch. Integrated research-education activities are planned, and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) will be promoted during this project. If successful, the societal impacts will be significant by always-connecting the world for unlimited internet of everything (IoET) applications, contributing to reduce the global wireless disparity.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.

项目名称：EAGER：探索未来射频 IC 的石墨烯机械开关（提案编号：2302688；PI：Albert Wang）半导体射频集成电路带来的无线通信的普及已经永远改变了我们的生活。想象一下没有智能手机和无线互联网的生活 在万物互联的新兴时代，当前对“始终连接”的世界的追求需要新一代 (Next-G) 无线技术。第五代（5G），依靠先进的射频集成电路芯片来支持更高的频率、更宽的带宽和更多的频段，以实现更高的数据速率、更低的功耗和更短的系统延迟。同一区域同时使用智能手机，如何避免之间的串扰？这就是射频开关器件在现代无线通信中发挥关键作用的地方，尤其是对于基于传统半导体晶体管的无线系统。射频交换机无法支持下一代无线通信，因为它的本项目将探索一种颠覆性的新型射频开关技术，该技术利用新型石墨烯基微机电系统开关进行设计和异构集成。进入半导体集成电路平台，以实现具有超高串扰隔离、超低信号传播损耗、超快开关速度的新型开关器件，以支持下一代无线通信。这项为期两年的 EAGER 提案将探索一种革命性的新技术。基于石墨烯的机械开关概念，旨在解决基于半导体场效应晶体管 (FET) 的射频 (RF) 开关技术固有的基本技术挑战，包括隔离度差、插入损耗高、不适合下一代 (Next-G)所提出的新型无转移石墨烯桥接机械开关（gSwitch）器件结构将使用互补金属氧化物半导体（CMOS）集成电路（IC）平台（CMOS-gSwitch）进行设计和制造。 gSwitch 器件代表了一种颠覆性的新型开关器件，具有多项新颖性：gSwitch 利用静电驱动和桥接欧姆接触开关机制，可以实现在关断状态下具有超高隔离度、超低插入的理想开关。导通状态下的损耗和可忽略不计的功耗。石墨烯膜的轻质量密度和高杨氏模量有可能实现皮秒级的开关速度。石墨烯优异的机械强度可以确保支持十亿次开关周期的 gSwitch 器件的高耐用性。任务 1 证明新的 gSwitch 器件概念；任务 2 开发晶圆级无转移金属。 -基于碳绝缘体界面的二氧化硅上石墨烯合成技术，用于在硅晶圆上制造 gSwitch 器件；Task-3 开发 HI 制造流程，以将新的 gSwitch 器件集成到 CMOS 中；Task-4 进行演示；使用 gSwitch 用于 Next-G 系统的射频开关 IC；计划使用 gSwitch 演示混频器的任务 5，如果成功，将促进多样性、公平性和包容性 (DEI)。通过始终连接世界以实现无限的万物互联 (IoET) 应用，社会影响将是巨大的，有助于减少全球无线差距。该奖项是 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值进行评估，被认为值得支持以及更广泛的影响审查标准。