High-Speed Pulsed Measurement of Millimeter-Wave Devices
Abstract
Paul Maki, ONR code 312Abstract:High performance microwave and millimeter-wave devices and systems are essential for emerging and fu ture Defense applications, including communications, sensing, and electronic warfare to enable information dominance and situational -awareness advantages. In addition, some of these device technologies or system concepts may also be relevant for future commercial communications and sensing systems. However, the accurate characterization of emerging devices in the microwave through millimeter -wave bands is challenging. Especially for emerging devices in novel materials (e.g. complex oxides, phase-change materials, ferroe lectrics) and in wide band gap materials (e.g. III-Ns, Ga2O3), the underlying device physics is sufficiently complexand the demands placed on the devices in terms of power, frequency, and performance are sufficiently highthat traditional approaches do not provid e a complete picture. To address this challenge, we propose to augment ourexisting device testing capability with short-pulse measu rements for both DC current-voltage and microwave/millimeter-wave characteristics (including both microwave/millimeter-wave s-parame level, pulsed-mode excitation allows separation of different physical effects, allowing researchers to more clearly elucidate the un derlying physics in the materials and devices under study. Since different physical phenomena respond on different time scales (e.g . thermal response, shallow- and deep-level trap capture and emission, phase and/or polarization-state transition dynamics), the abi lity to measure in time-domain pulsed mode while still retaining wide frequency-domain coverage provides the ability to effectively separate these physical effects and more fully understand the internal operation of the emerging materials and devices under study. In addition to this advantage for fundamental understanding, however, the ability to test devices under pulsed conditions also prov ides the ability to test under conditions that more closely resemble operational use conditions. As such, start-up transients, ther mal responses, responses to transient input overloads, etc., can be directly assessed for the devices being researched. This additi onal insight promises to provide system-level insight at a much earlier stage in the research on new devices, thus improving not onl y our fundamental understanding of the devices and materials being studied, but their ultimate impact and role in defense-relevant s ystem contexts as well. As a consequence of enabling more comprehensive device and material characterization, graduate education in Defense-relevant areas of study will be enhanced.The proposed equipment will augment existing microwave and millimeter-wave test ca pabilities at Notre Dame, enabling pulsed-mode characterization of both DC and microwave/millimeter-wave performance with short (200 ns) pulses. The proposed equipment consists of a Maury Microwave AMCAD 3200 pulsed IV system, IVCAD software for control and analy sis, and associated hardware options. To support ongoing Defense-related work the PI is performing, as well as foreseeable future d irections, we p V). In addition, a small modification to our existing nonlinear vector network analyzer (a Keysight N5247B PNA-X) to support the sh ort-pulse measurements is necessary (adding the advanced pulsed RF measurements capability). The combination of high- and low-vol tage pulse units allows us to test high-power transistors, as well as more novel devices such as phase-change switches, ferroelectri c-gated transistors, and IMPATT diodes having a wide range of bias requirements.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Aug 20, 2021
- Source ID
- N000142112681
Entities
People
- Patrick Fay
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy
- University of Notre Dame