Magneto-electric nano-composite for analog tunable radio frequency filters

<p><b>The emerging field of magnetoelectric electronics opens significant opportunities for the next generation of sensors and wireless devices. A key feature of magneto-electric materials is the coupling between their magnetic and electronic properties that enables a voltage to be induced by a magnetic field, or a magnetic response to be induced by an electric field. This occurs in ferroelectric and ferromagnetic bi-layers. It also intrinsically occurs in multiferroics but obtaining a large room temperature magneto-electric effect with such materials can be challenging.</b></p> <p>The National Isotope Centre, part of the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences (GNS Science), has been working with Victoria University of Wellington (VUW) on a novel idea to use low energy ion implantation to create ferromagnetic nanoparticles on ferroelectric and multiferroic thin films to create a magneto-electric nanoparticle composite thin film. They demonstrated the viability of magneto-electric nano-composites in two early stage proofs-ofconcept: a tunable radio frequency filter for wireless systems and a zero-power magnetometer measuring small electrical signals. The aim of this project is to assess the range of fields that this composite could have applications in, identifying the most promising of those fields and assessing the most promising applications in that field. Furthermore, this project also seeks out potential partners in New Zealand and a business case was subsequently prepared, which will be used to apply for government funding to pursue research on the technology, and to begin its commercialisation.</p> <p>In this study nine fields were found to potentially benefit from the use of this technology. They were analysed and compared, using preliminary market validation, resulting in the decision to investigate further the tunable radio frequency (RF) filter market, which is projected at US$13 billion by 2020. RF filters are designed using an original method patented in the 1930s allowing a filter to address only one frequency. As a result, a device must integrate as many filters as frequencies it needs to use, which could be more than 50 for a recent smartphone. A tunable RF filter with a 20% tunability could disrupt this market by providing a huge gain of space, weight, and power efficiency. The RF market is also promising because of the wireless trend, which is occurring all over the world where everything is progressively connected to the what is called the ‘Internet of Things’ – the most important market for the next generation of interconnected electronics. During a year of literature review, interviews and participation at international fairs, the research team has built a value proposition case, a technology review, a market and competitive analysis, an intellectual property assessment and a commercialisation pathway, which are detailed in this project report.</p> <p>The initial Smart Idea funding from the government has now ended and, if the project is to be kept alive, it needs to produce a quick-to-market application to unlock new credits. This report proposes a structured roadmap for several applications, starting with a tunable RF filter prototype for underwater communication. This has been progressed by GNS Science, embarking on a grant application during this writing. If granted, this funding could open the way to make New Zealand a champion in tunable RF filters and a research and development (R&D) hub for next generation nano-electronics.</p>

Magneto-electric nano-composite for analog tunable radio frequency filters

<p><b>The emerging field of magnetoelectric electronics opens significant opportunities for the next generation of sensors and wireless devices. A key feature of magneto-electric materials is the coupling between their magnetic and electronic properties that enables a voltage to be induced by a magnetic field, or a magnetic response to be induced by an electric field. This occurs in ferroelectric and ferromagnetic bi-layers. It also intrinsically occurs in multiferroics but obtaining a large room temperature magneto-electric effect with such materials can be challenging.</b></p> <p>The National Isotope Centre, part of the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences (GNS Science), has been working with Victoria University of Wellington (VUW) on a novel idea to use low energy ion implantation to create ferromagnetic nanoparticles on ferroelectric and multiferroic thin films to create a magneto-electric nanoparticle composite thin film. They demonstrated the viability of magneto-electric nano-composites in two early stage proofs-ofconcept: a tunable radio frequency filter for wireless systems and a zero-power magnetometer measuring small electrical signals. The aim of this project is to assess the range of fields that this composite could have applications in, identifying the most promising of those fields and assessing the most promising applications in that field. Furthermore, this project also seeks out potential partners in New Zealand and a business case was subsequently prepared, which will be used to apply for government funding to pursue research on the technology, and to begin its commercialisation.</p> <p>In this study nine fields were found to potentially benefit from the use of this technology. They were analysed and compared, using preliminary market validation, resulting in the decision to investigate further the tunable radio frequency (RF) filter market, which is projected at US$13 billion by 2020. RF filters are designed using an original method patented in the 1930s allowing a filter to address only one frequency. As a result, a device must integrate as many filters as frequencies it needs to use, which could be more than 50 for a recent smartphone. A tunable RF filter with a 20% tunability could disrupt this market by providing a huge gain of space, weight, and power efficiency. The RF market is also promising because of the wireless trend, which is occurring all over the world where everything is progressively connected to the what is called the ‘Internet of Things’ – the most important market for the next generation of interconnected electronics. During a year of literature review, interviews and participation at international fairs, the research team has built a value proposition case, a technology review, a market and competitive analysis, an intellectual property assessment and a commercialisation pathway, which are detailed in this project report.</p> <p>The initial Smart Idea funding from the government has now ended and, if the project is to be kept alive, it needs to produce a quick-to-market application to unlock new credits. This report proposes a structured roadmap for several applications, starting with a tunable RF filter prototype for underwater communication. This has been progressed by GNS Science, embarking on a grant application during this writing. If granted, this funding could open the way to make New Zealand a champion in tunable RF filters and a research and development (R&D) hub for next generation nano-electronics.</p>

Generic Fabrication Technique of Graphene Based RF Sensor towards Biological Application

Herein presented, we demonstrate that a sensitive sensing/detection element was obtained from the laser treatment of a non-conducting flexible material exploiting laser machine, which can then potentially deploy as sensing element of a biosensor for possible usage in to sense and obtain the presence and quantity of the interested sample. The goal is to study and advance innovative means of fabricating a low-cost graphene sensor, employed as a Radio Frequency (RF) filter for disposable biomedical purposes. A material like Graphene can be fashioned by laser irradiation (Laser scribe) of Kapton tape implemented as a filter. The manufacture of the filter geometry was accomplished by means of a laser machine irradiating a Kapton tape on a chosen substrate (for this work a Flame Retardant 4 (FR-4)), by the application of the previous gotten parameters for the production. Various laser power values were employed for their manufacture and their corresponding conductivity was observed to range from 171 x10-6 S/mm to 279 x10-6 S/mm. The Raman spectrum results of the produced material has a D band peak at 1349.76 cm-1 , a G band of 1587.73 cm-1 and a 2D band peak of 2693.34 cm-1 . The ANSYS high-frequency structure simulator (HFSS) (for the Analysis of the System) simulation results signifies good outcomes, and opportunities to improve the material property are also being studied. Tests were also conducted by the utilization of a Vector Network Analyzer (VNA) to validating their feasibility of being deployed as the detection element of a biosensor, thus lending them the possibility to find implementation in disposable biological sensing.

DVCC-based Low-power RF Filter with 32 nm CNFETs

This work presents a wide-band active filter for RF receiver. The design uses Carbon Nanotube-FET (CNFET) based differential voltage current conveyor (DVCC) for the implementation of the proposed filter. The filter is designed to operate Ku-band frequencies (12-18 GHz), which is used in satellite communication. Additionally, CMOS based circuit and CNFET-based circuit for DVCC are compared for the performance evaluation. HSPICE simulations have been carried out to test the design aspects of the circuit. The CNFET-based circuit has better results in terms of 60 % reduction in the power consumption and about six times improvement in the bandwidth. The filter utilizes low supply voltage of 0.9 V and consumes 524 µW only. The proposed filter outperforms the existing CMOS-based designs which suggests its usage for low-power high-frequency analog circuits.