Multipurpose Electronics Toolkit using Suspended Membranes: towards Systems on Nothing

使用悬浮膜的多用途电子工具包：走向无源系统

• 批准号: EP/Y000196/1
• 负责人: Radu Sporea
• 金额: $ 106.53万
• 依托单位: University of Surrey
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2024 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=EP%2FY000196%2F1
• 关键词: Multipurpose; Electronics; Toolkit; using; Suspended

Concerted progress in energy sources, sensing, and communications are bringing closer a future in which connected smart sensors will contribute to improved health and sustainable use of resources via environmental, personal health, and process monitoring. For maximum value, data should be generated and processed through means that are reliable, but also cost effective, energy efficient, and ecologically sound. By doing the initial conditioning and processing of incoming data close to the sensor (i.e. at the edge of a sensing network), energy savings and signal integrity can be improved, at the expense of local complexity. The electronic devices performing signal conditioning, data conversion, and decision in such systems are typically realised in state-of-the art and exorbitantly expensive chip manufacturing facilities (fabs). Recent pressure on the chip supply chain has increased the appeal of exploring alternative technologies. Chief among these are thin-film processes in which electronic devices and sensing components can be manufactured at a fraction of the cost, but simultaneously with: a major drop in performance; challenges in manufacturing circuits of the required complexity; and in many cases, much higher energy requirements during operation. At Surrey, we have devised and are developing a design philosophy and associated thin-film electronic device called the source-gated transistor (SGT), with superior power efficiency, stability, and amplification compared to conventional thin-film transistors, advantages which come at the cost of further reducing the operating speed. Our recent observation shows that the best SGT performance arises when combining thin semiconductor materials of high electrical permittivity with low-permittivity dielectrics, in a design that is counterintuitive to traditional approaches but is consistent with first principles. In this project, we will demonstrate SGTs and circuits, with hitherto inaccessible levels of performance and energy efficiency, by combining the advantages of the device architecture with the material properties of suspended crystalline silicon and germanium membranes. The charge carrier mobility of these materials, vastly superior to the usual thin films, and the geometrical scaling afforded by the exceptional SGT functional features, will enable circuits that are >100x faster and >10x more energy efficient than previous SGT-based designs. By expressly merging thin-film and "traditional silicon"-based approaches, these devices will serve as unique building blocks for highly efficient wearable, point-of-care, and distributed sensing systems with built-in sensing, signal conditioning, and decision. Even as we will be using materials aligned with traditional chips, our approach will not rely on the costly state-of-the art fabrication facilities, relieving much needed manufacturing capacity for complex chips e.g. processors and AI accelerators, while delivering transformative functionality to an emerging sensor ecosystem.In this initial project, the route to manufacturing will be explored, but as a secondary concern. We will focus primarily on the demonstration of a ground-breaking concept, through innovative joining of previously disparate materials and fabrication philosophies. In a high-risk, high-reward approach, we will confirm transistor operation, not only as amplifiers and signal conditioning stages, but potentially as sensors for bio-, chemical and mechanical stimuli. We will establish design rules and guidelines, supported by numerical simulation and by material and device characterisation. Thus, these advances will holistically represent a toolkit for the implementation of highly versatile, multipurpose sensing and processing systems towards a connected future beyond the Internet-of-Things. As a catalyst for prolific academic and industrial advances, the research will contribute firmly to maintaining the UK's leadership in emerging electronic technologies.

能源、传感和通信领域的协同进步正在拉近未来，互联智能传感器将通过环境、个人健康和过程监控，促进改善健康和资源的可持续利用。为了实现价值最大化，数据的生成和处理应通过可靠、经济高效、节能且对生态有益的方式。通过对靠近传感器（即传感网络边缘）的输入数据进行初始调节和处理，可以提高节能和信号完整性，但代价是局部复杂性。在此类系统中执行信号调节、数据转换和决策的电子设备通常在最先进且极其昂贵的芯片制造设施（晶圆厂）中实现。最近芯片供应链面临的压力增加了探索替代技术的吸引力。其中最主要的是薄膜工艺，在这种工艺中，电子器件和传感元件的制造成本仅为其一小部分，但同时会出现：性能大幅下降；制造所需复杂性电路的挑战；在许多情况下，运行期间的能源需求要高得多。在萨里，我们已经设计并正在开发一种设计理念和相关的薄膜电子器件，称为源极门控晶体管（SGT），与传统薄膜晶体管相比，具有卓越的功率效率、稳定性和放大能力，这些优点进一步降低运行速度的代价。我们最近的观察表明，当将高介电常数的薄半导体材料与低介电常数电介质结合在一起时，会产生最佳的 SGT 性能，这种设计与传统方法违反直觉，但符合第一原理。在这个项目中，我们将通过将器件架构的优势与悬浮晶体硅和锗膜的材料特性相结合，展示具有迄今为止难以达到的性能和能效水平的SGT和电路。这些材料的载流子迁移率远远优于通常的薄膜，并且由特殊的 SGT 功能特性提供的几何缩放，将使电路比以前基于 SGT 的设计速度快 100 倍以上，能效高 10 倍以上。通过明确融合薄膜和“传统硅”方法，这些器件将成为具有内置传感、信号调节和决策功能的高效可穿戴、护理点和分布式传感系统的独特构建模块。即使我们将使用与传统芯片一致的材料，我们的方法也不会依赖昂贵的最先进的制造设施，从而减轻了复杂芯片（例如芯片）急需的制造能力。处理器和人工智能加速器，同时为新兴传感器生态系统提供变革性功能。在这个初始项目中，将探索制造路线，但作为次要问题。我们将主要关注通过创新地连接以前不同的材料和制造原理来展示突破性的概念。在高风险、高回报的方法中，我们将确认晶体管的运行，不仅作为放大器和信号调节级，而且还可能作为生物、化学和机械刺激的传感器。我们将建立设计规则和指南，并得到数值模拟以及材料和设备表征的支持。因此，这些进步将全面代表一个工具包，用于实现高度通用、多用途的传感和处理系统，迈向超越物联网的互联未来。作为多产学术和工业进步的催化剂，该研究将为保持英国在新兴电子技术领域的领先地位做出坚定的贡献。