Solid State Non-Reciprocal Microwave Devices

The technology within this topic is restricted under the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR), 22 CFR Parts 120-130, which controls the export and import of defense-related material and services, including export of sensitive technical data, or the Export Administration Regulation (EAR), 15 CFR Parts 730-774, which controls dual use items. Offerors must disclose any proposed use of foreign nationals (FNs), their country(ies) of origin, the type of visa or work permit possessed, and the statement of work (SOW) tasks intended for accomplishment by the FN(s) in accordance with section 3.5 of the Announcement. Offerors are advised foreign nationals proposed to perform on this topic may be restricted due to the technical data under US Export Control Laws. OBJECTIVE: Design, build and test non-reciprocal microwave devices fabricated from novel materials predicted from theory and validated at frequency regime exceeding 10 THz (preferably reaching as high as 100 THz) with insertion losses less than 3dB, and isolation losses less than 20dB. Microwave devices include but are not limited to gyrators, isolators and circulators fabricated from novel materials. DESCRIPTION: Current microwave devices based on ferrites are the mainstay of telecommunications. They have increasingly high insertion losses at high frequencies, limiting their useful frequency range typically below 100 GHz. The same functionality can be designed in semiconductor-based integrated circuits but operation at a few THz is the extreme limit of those devices. Non-reciprocal microwave devices, namely gyrators, isolators and circulators fabricated from novel materials are expected to have the potential to operate at high-THz frequencies, as the electron scattering is theoretically the limiting factor for the maximum operating frequency [1, 2]. Novel materials pertinent for high frequency applications include but are not limited to some non-magnetic metals [3], degenerately doped semiconductors [4], and goniopolar materials in which the dominant charge carrier exhibits n-type conduction in one direction and p-type conduction in another [5-7]. The material's resistivity induced insertion losses need to be taken into account in the device design and performance as well. PHASE I: Formulate complete designs for a series of high frequency devices (gyrator, or isolator, or circulator) that optimize contact technology and can have frequency response characteristics exceeding 10THz at room temperature. The choice of material, operating characteristics and design should be justified on rigorous scientific principles, using experimental results to-date and theoretical models. PHASE II: Construct and optimize device geometry with respect to S-parameters. Demonstrate optimization based on measured trans-conductance matrix and insertion losses for a series of devices showing room temperature frequency response exceeding 10 THz (preferably up to 100 THz) and high temperature capability up to 10 GHz at temperatures up to 1000 C. PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: Commercialize electronics switching platform. Expand the capability to meet requirements for other Air Force test facilities and mature the technology for commercialization to all DoD facilities and the private sector. REFERENCES: 1. J. F. Nye, Physical Properties of Crystals: Their Representation by Tensors and Matrices. Oxford University Press: 1985. 2. D. T. Stevenson, R. J. Keyes, Measurement of Carrier Lifetimes in Germanium and Silicon. J. Appl. Phys. 1955, 26 (2), 190-195. 3. T. E. Della Torre, L. Bennett, R. Watson. "Extension of the Bloch T3/2 Law to Magnetic Nanostructures: Bose-Einstein Condensation". Physical Review Letters. 94 (14): 147210 (2005). 4. A. Walsh, J. L. F. Da Silva, and S-H. Wei, Origins of band-gap renormalization in degenerately doped semiconductors, Physical Review B 78, 075211 (2008). 5. B. He, Y. Wang, M. Q. Arguilla, N. D. Cultrara, M. R. Scudder, J. E. Goldberger, W. Windl, and J. P. Heremans, The Fermi Surface Geometrical Origin of Axis-dependent Conduction Polarity in Layered Materials, Nature Materials 18 568-572 (2019). 6. Y. Wang, K. G. Koster, A. M. Ochs, M. R. Scudder, J. P. Heremans, W. Windl, and J. E. Goldberger, The Chemical Design Principles for Axis-Dependent Conduction Polarity, Journal of the American Chemical Society 142, 2812 (2020). 7. B. W. Y. Redemann, M. R. Scudder, D. Weber, Y. Wang, W. Windl, and J. E. Goldberger, Synthesis Structural, end Electronic Properties of Sr1-xCaxPdAs, Inorganic Chemical Frontiers 7, 2833 (2020). KEYWORDS: Microwave; insertion loss; n-type conduction; gyrator; isolator; circulator; S-parameters