NSF Award
2329207
The aim of this project is to advance the tools and technology used to design and build high frequency radar and communication systems. Of particular interest are systems that operate at high power levels and require some form of cooling to maximize operational lifetime and efficiency. The research will be conducted with simultaneous consideration of electrical, mechanical and thermal design using a team-based co-design methodology. The potential applications of the proposed research include next generation wireless communications and sensing (radar) for land- and space-based platforms, especially those operating in harsh environments. A broader aspect of the research is understanding the opportunities to harness advanced methods to accelerate the modeling and design of such complex systems. Because of the uniqueness of innovation in this area, it is of particular importance that a strategic educational training program is integrated into the research effort. To support development of a diverse, well-trained workforce the project will include an educational outreach program for 7th-12th grade students that is supported by undergraduate and graduate students participating in service-based learning (SBL) activities. The SBL activities will integrate the research and education activities into the outreach effort. The activities will also leverage a national model for advanced manufacturing education and include participants from historically marginalized groups, and the outcomes will be evaluated using formative and summative assessments. <br/><br/>The project will focus on achieving advanced function and high-performance mm-wave transmitter unit cells through heterogeneous integration of bare die power amplifiers, packaged integrated circuits (e.g., beamforming IC for programmable phased array), integrated passives for DC biasing, and advanced thermal management systems. The investigation will include the co-design of the thermal, 3D interposer and electromagnetic front-end systems using a tool that combines numerical thermal and electromagnetic simulators and provides a powerful new specifications-to-CAD capability. The fabrication processes may include one of multiple additive manufacturing and/or thin-film microfabrication methods. For the packaged-integrated thermal management system, the project will build on a foundational capability in additive manufacturing to investigate a new approach intended to increase the achievable mm-wave power density by potentially multiple orders of magnitude over current state of the art for the studied class of low-cost 3D packages. In order to meet this goal, a formal co-design methodology will be leveraged along with multi-fidelity Bayesian co-optimization of thermal, interposer and EM sub-systems. This design and optimization process will be a useful tool to advance the field of 3D mm-wave packages with heterogeneous integration requirements. Environmental impact is a critical objective function for the PIs and will be addressed through improvements to system reliability (longer operational lifecycles and reduced premature equipment retirement), material selection, minimizing energy consumption, and 2nd law efficiency analysis. The potential applications of the proposed research include next generation wireless communications and sensing (radar) for land- and space-based platforms, especially those operating in harsh environments. The specifications-to-CAD tool will help to extend the packaging and thermal management principles into a broad range of applications beyond those focused upon herein. The research will also expand the utility of sustainable, low cost and customizable additive manufacturing processes to new applications including prototyping and potentially low- to medium-scale manufacturing for advanced mm-wave systems.<br/><br/>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.
