| NSF Org: |
ECCS Div Of Electrical, Commun & Cyber Sys |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | January 23, 2024 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | January 23, 2024 |
| Award Number: | 2337069 |
| Award Instrument: | Continuing Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Ale Lukaszew
rlukasze@nsf.gov (703)292-8103 ECCS Div Of Electrical, Commun & Cyber Sys ENG Directorate For Engineering |
| Start Date: | May 1, 2024 |
| End Date: | April 30, 2029 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $500,000.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $398,610.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
201 MULLICA HILL RD GLASSBORO NJ US 08028-1700 (856)256-4057 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
201 MULLICA HILL RD RT 322 GLASSBORO NJ US 08028-1700 |
| Primary Place of Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): | CCSS-Comms Circuits & Sens Sys |
| Primary Program Source: |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.041 |
ABSTRACT
Surface acoustic waves (SAWs) are a type of sound waves that propagate at the surface of elastic solids. They carry important information and can interact with piezoelectric substrates, which together lead to a wide range of applications including filtering, analog signal processing, and quantum acoustic devices. However, most of the SAW devices have fixed configurations and limited tunability, and their properties cannot be manipulated in real-time. Such a drawback limits the ability of current electronic devices that use SAW as a fundamental platform. It represents a major barrier to achieving smart and intelligent control of SAWs, which is a pursuit in the information era. This Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) proposal aims to overcome this technological gap by developing and optimizing tunable SAW components that go beyond passive, single-functionality devices. Specifically, it allows for convenient and reconfigurable tuning of SAWs by supplying a small gate voltage. This research will enhance the fundamental understanding of SAWs propagating on piezoelectric substrates and realize monolithic smart SAW kernels that can be applied in various scenarios to ultimately enable intelligent integrated devices for sensing, communication, and biomedical applications. The program will also help mitigate barriers to high-quality STEM education through the partnership with local community colleges. It will advance the education and research experience of students at all levels, especially those from underrepresented groups to cultivate and retain them in the STEM fields.
The objective of this proposal is to develop novel integrated SAW devices with expanded functionality and tunability by harnessing the electro-acoustic effects. To achieve this, theoretical and numerical models will be established to quantify the piezoelectric and electromechanical couplings from a microscopic wave-matter interaction perspective. New tuning mechanisms with gate-tunable features will be identified based on both linear and nonlinear effects arising from SAW propagation. The material, configuration, and fabrication process associated with these tuning approaches will be systematically tested and optimized with the goal of reducing the voltage requirement and response time. Experimental measurements will be performed to demonstrate tunable SAW propagation with improved performance, capacity, and bandwidth. The developed tunable SAW component will serve as a smart kernel, which will be coupled with control circuits as well as other supporting hardware to realize intelligent and multi-functional integrated on-chip devices. The applicability of the proposed approach will be validated in a number of scenarios such as reconfigurable filtering, multi-functional sensing, and programmable SAW-based particle manipulation. The research will contribute to the development of next-generation smart SAW devices by providing a powerful approach that promotes a fundamental understanding of electrically induced elasticity modulation as well as gate-tunable components that can be integrated into diverse systems.
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.
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