Emerging Phase Change Materials for Future 5G and mmWave Communications

Dr. Tejinder Singh
University of Waterloo, Canada

Abstract: The future depends on connectivity, from artificial intelligence and self-driving cars to telemedicine and mixed reality to yet undreamt-of technology; all the things we hope will make our lives easier, safer and healthier will require high-speed, always-ON wireless connection. Every currently available wireless device in our homes uses a specific radio frequency spectrum that is typically restricted, under 30 GHz. Due to the multifold increase in connected gadgets and vehicles, and resulting congestion, the modern wireless industry is shifting its focus towards high-frequency communication beyond 30 GHz, known as 5G and millimeter-wave (mmWave) communication. However, creating the infrastructure for this technology first requires developing the necessary hardware, especially highly complex switchable devices and networks. Almost all wireless devices in Earth’s connected ecosystem require switch networks to facilitate efficient transmission and signal reception. This talk focuses on various novel miniaturized on-chip switching devices for efficient future 5G/6G roll-out, based on emerging phase-change materials. In recent years, these materials have been used in optical storage and electronic memory, but this work, for the first time in Canada, exploits them for microwave and mmWave frequencies to develop a new generation of devices. Various complex switching devices integrated on a single chip that is thinner than a human hair are discussed that exhibit performance, power consumption, and efficiency surpassing any currently available technology. The process of fabricating these devices is custom-designed and optimized in-house. The resulting switch topologies are integrated in various multi-port complex circuits and systems for upcoming mmWave hardware. Compared to the competition, PCM-based RF devices exhibit low loss, high isolation, no static DC power consumption, miniaturized, and amenable for monolithic integration. These devices are experimentally tested for more than 1 million reliable lifetime endurance cycles. This research has direct application in a wide range of science and engineering fields such as wireless communication, biomedical, military, automotive, and consumer electronics.

Speaker’s Bio: Dr. Tejinder Singh received the Ph.D. degree (with highest academic honor) in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada, in 2020. He is currently a Postdoctoral Scholar at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Pasadena, CA, USA and a Research Associate with the Centre for Integrated RF Engineering (CIRFE), Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada. He held a Microelectronics R&D Engineer position in industry from 2010 to 2012. From 2014 to 2015, he served as a University Instructor/Lecturer. He served as Chair of the ECE-Graduate Student Association, at the University of Waterloo from 2017 to 2018. He has authored or coauthored several research publications. His current research interests include designing, modeling, characterization, and fabrication of phase change materials (PCMs) and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) based RF devices for microwave and millimeter-wave (mmWave) applications. He is an Associate Editor of Microsystem Technologies journal published by Springer Nature, Germany and serves as a Topic Editor in mmWave area in Electronics published by MDPI. He is a reviewer of many top-tier academic journals including more than twelve IEEE Journals. Dr. Singh is a recipient of the Governor General’s Gold Medal, one of the highest Canadian honors in academic and research for his academic excellence and outstanding doctoral research. He has received highly competitive and prestigious federal awards from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) including a Postdoctoral Fellowship from 2020 to 2022 and Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship from 2017 to 2020. He has also received the President’s Graduate Scholarship from 2017 to 2020, the Waterloo Institute of Nanotechnology (WIN) Nanofellowship from 2016 to 2017 and from 2017 to 2018. He has been awarded the Young Engineer Award from the European Microwave Association (EuMA) and GAAS Association in 2021 and the Brian L. Barge Microsystems Integration Award from Canada Microsystems (CMC) in a Canada-wide research competition. His research contributions have been bestowed numerous accolades including the IEEE Harold Sobol Grant in 2019, First Place in the Student Paper Competition and Best Paper Award at IEEE MTT-S Int. Microw. Symp. (IMS 2019), Student Paper Finalist in IMS 2020 and 2021, Best Paper Award at IEEE MTT-S Int. Microw. Workshop Series on Adv. Mater. Processes (IMWS-AMP 2018), the University of Waterloo Faculty of Engineering Award (six-times) between 2015 and 2019, the EuMA Student Award in 2018, CMC Microsystem’s Micro-Nanotechnology Award in 2019, and Distinguished TA Award from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Waterloo in 2017 to name a few.

This event is organized by IEEE UP-Section (India), IEEE MTT-S, IEEE APS / GLB Inst. of Tech. and Mgt., UP, India