Have a look look at a burning galaxy with millions of stars forming!

• Tuesday, 3 September 2024

Ever wanted to have a look at a burning galaxy with millions of stars forming, roughly (and probably) 13 billion lightyears ago? This is your chance! Akira Endo is currently running observations in the main hall of building 36 (faculty of EEMCS), using the DESHIMA 2.0 spectrometer on the ASTE telescope in Chile. PhD student Leon Olde Scholtenhuis made a new chip in clean rooms including the Else Kooi Lab, that he wants to bring to the telescope next month.

POEMM - a NASA stratospheric balloon mission with TU Delft/SRON detectors

• Thursday, 18 July 2024

Early July we received the news that the proposal for POEMM, The Planetary Origins and Evolution Multispectral Monochromator (POEMM), was granted. POEMM is a NASA-led long duration balloon mission, flying a 2 m diameter telescope at 45 km altitude above Antarctica using a giant He balloon. The two key new technologies that enable this mission are: 1: The Microwave Kinetic Inductance Detectors (MKIDs) developed in the THz sensing group and SRON, operating in a 35-112 µm band,  and 2)  a so-called Virtual Image Phased Array (VIPA), developed at Cornell University in the USA. The VIPA is an optical element that allows spectroscopy with a resolving power of 100.000 with power detectors such as MKIDs. With this combination POEMM elegantly bypasses the Quantum Limit in sensitivity for radio receivers which are normally used for high resolution spectroscopy. POEMM promises to revolutionize our understanding of planet formation, the evolution of protoplanetary disks (PPDs) and the atmospheres of Solar System giant planets.

Best Paper Award at EuCAP 2024

• Monday, 25 March 2024

Caspar Coco Martin, Weiya Hu and Daniele Cavallo were awarded with the Best Paper Award at the European Conference on Antennas and Propagation 2024 for Best Antenna Theory Paper. The winning paper is

“Analysis and Design of mmWave Wideband Artificial Dielectric Flat Lens Antenna”, Caspar M. Coco Martin, Weiya Hu and Daniele Cavallo (Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands). 

The conference hosted 1500 attendees and included more than 1100 papers. This award adds to the many awards won by the TS group at international conferences, emphasizing the outstanding contributions of the group to the field of antennas.

EU project TeraGreen and targets Tbps energy-efficient wireless links for future 6G networks

• Friday, 15 September 2023

Nuria Llombart Juan (TSz group) got a 4-year EU project, called ‘TeraGreen and targets Tbps energy-efficient wireless links for future 6G networks’ (5 mln. Euro in total) granted. The TUD is the administrative and scientific coordinator of the project. The other partners are Ericsson, Infineon, Chalmers, Technische Universität Dresden and Cosmote.
For this purpose, TeraGreen will develop ultra wideband and low-power consumption BiCMOS transmitters and receivers integrated with lens array architectures at 300GHz, combined with baseband algorithms suitable for energy-efficient analog-to-digital conversion.  

Our Paper Awarded at the IEEE MetroAeroSpace 2023

• Wednesday, 21 June 2023

We are proud to announce that our paper, "Experimental Evaluation of Radar Waveforms for Spectral Coexistence Using the PARSAX Radar", the result of our research collaboration with the team from the University of Naples “Federico II”, has been recognized as the most outstanding paper of the Special Session on Metrology for Radar Systems presented at IEEE MetroAeroSpace 2023 (the award has been sponsored by MDPI Remote Sensing Journal). The paper was acknowledged for its experimental demonstration of radar operability in spectrally dense environments through innovative waveform design.

The award recognition will soon be posted on the official conference website.

Opening ceremony of the EmC XG Labs

• Monday, 15 May 2023

Barbara McCune, wife of late Earl McCune, and Lucas van Vliet, Dean of the EEMCS Faculty, inaugurated the Earl McCune XG Labs on April 17th, 2023. Many people attended the ceremony, both from the Microelectronics department as well as external partners such as TNO, Nokia, Rohde&Schwarz, BSW...

The EmC XG Labs receives its name from Prof. Earl McCune (EmC), who enabled the neXt Generation (XG) communication and sensing efforts at TU Delft thanks to his great enthusiasm, his vast amount of knowledge and his warm personality.

The EmC XG Labs consist of a cluster of state-of-the-art microwave laboratories, covering the frequency spectrum from 30 kHz to 500 GHz, able to perform measurements on packaged, on-wafer and over-the-air devices and systems, providing an excellent frame for students, scholars and faculty members to carry out their research.

TU Delta: Millions for TU Delft-led radar project

• Monday, 15 May 2023

The TU Delft-led PHARA consortium will receive millions of euros in funding from NWO. The researchers are developing a new type of radar that can observe the entire sky in a few seconds, to study how particles grow in clouds and rainfall, and to observe large movements of weather fronts. The transportable radar should contribute to climate and atmospheric research, more accurate weather forecasts, and further innovations in radar technology.

NWO is putting a total of EUR 22.7 million into seven projects in which scientists from all over the Netherlands are developing high-quality research equipment, data collection, and software. The contribution ranges from 2.3 to 4.7 million euros per project.

With the money, the research funder wants to encourage scientists to work together to keep the Netherlands‘ scientific infrastructure up to date. According to NWO president Marcel Levi, the seven awarded projects enable new research that has great added value for society. As recently as February, NWO together with the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science awarded 140 million euros from the 'national roadmap’ for exceptionally large research equipment and databases. (HOP, HC)

Additional information: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivVORUxABiQ

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Andrea Neto wins Best Paper Award at EuCAP 2023

• Monday, 3 April 2023

Andrea Neto was awarded with the Best Electromagnetics Award at the European Conference on Antennas and Propagation 2023, with the Paper:

“A Classical Electromagnetic Model for Thermal Emission from Ohmic Materials”, Andrea Neto (Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands). 

The conference hosted 1700 attendees and included 1100 papers.

Happy holidays and a radiant 2023!

• Monday, 19 December 2022

First Prize in Young Scientists Contest at the 2022 International Radar Symposium in Gdansk, Poland

• Friday, 16 September 2022

The MS3 group is glad to inform you that during the 10th MICROWAVE & RADAR WEEK in Gdansk, Poland our former MSc student Detmer Bosma won the First Prize in the Young Scientists Contest at the 2022 International Radar Symposium with the article "Polarimetric Signatures on Moving Automotive Vehicles Based on the H/A/α-Decomposition" and an excellent presentation about the main results of his MSc thesis project, which were done under the supervision of dr. O. Krasnov and prof. A. Yarovoy, and successfully defended in November 2021 !!!

Congratulations, Detmer!

Interview Jochem Baselmans

• Thursday, 1 September 2022

Link to the interview

Researchers have succeeded in making a far-infrared detector so sensitive that we will soon be able to look back even further than we can with current telescopes.

Jochem Baselmans, professor at TU Delft and senior researcher at SRON, explains why the interdisciplinary project took 17 years, what exactly they want to look at with the detector and why they are now waiting for a super-cold telescope.

Read more: Far infrared detector KID achieves highest possible sensitivity .

 

Happy Secretaries Day!!!

• Thursday, 21 April 2022

Our congratulations and best wishes!

EuCAP 2022 best paper awarded to TS & ELCA Group

• Tuesday, 12 April 2022

At the recent European Conference on Antennas and Propagation, authors Nick van Rooijen, Maria Alonso-delPino, Marco Spirito and Nuria Llombart have received the Best Theory and Design Antenna Paper award for their work entitled; Core-Shell Leaky-Wave Lens Antenna for 150GHz Fly’s Eye Communication Systems’

Their contribution describes a scalable novel antenna architecture suitable for high frequency wireless links. This antenna has an outer ‘shell’ lens for large gain, and an inner ‘core’ lens for improved Front-End integration and increased degrees of freedom. EuCAP is Europe’s largest and most significant antennas and propagation conference, attracting more than 1400 participants from academia and industry from all over the world.

Board of Delft Space institute awarded Matus Rybak a DSI Seed Grant

• Wednesday, 30 March 2022

Research

Observing the Universe at sub-mm wavelengths (0.1-1.0 mm) opens doors to a wide range of phenomena: from the leftover radiation from the Big Bang to distant galaxies, formation of stars and planets, to supermassive black holes. Unfortunately, spectroscopy at sub-mm wavelengths is still severely limited by narrow bandwidths of heterodyne receivers. This makes spectroscopic observations very time-consuming.

With the Delft Space Institute Seed Grant, a new ultra-wideband spectrometer DESHIMA on the ASTE telescope in the Atacama desert in Chile is installed. Developed at EEMCS, DESHIMA uses ground-breaking superconducting technology to measure the spectra between 220 and 440 GHz. Though based on the Earth, DESHIMA is a key technology demonstrator for instruments for future space missions. Matus will also set up a station to remotely control the telescope from the EEMCS and process the DESHIMA data in-house: an excellent opportunity for students from EEMCS to get involved in astrophysical observations!

Link to DESHIMA webpage: http://deshima.ewi.tudelft.nl/

An ERC for Akira Endo; a 3D vision on the universe’s structure

• Friday, 18 March 2022

To look back in time, you need to look far, far away in the universe. Conventional techniques for this are limited: they either create a flat 2D image, or focus too much on the details. Neither paint a full picture of our universe, but that is about to change. Akira Endo has received an ERC Consolidator grant for his TIFUUN project, which will create 3D maps of vast volumes of the universe. These will cover both distant places and times – more than 10 billion years to be exact! The better imagery that Akira Endo will generate could revolutionize our insights into the history of galaxies, and the formation and evolution of the so-called ‘cosmic web’.

The universe as a forest

The universe is not the same everywhere: some places such as galaxies have a higher density of matter and energy, while other places are almost void. Akira Endo: “In a sense, you can imagine the universe as a forest. Long and intricate clusters of galaxies form the trees – galaxies themselves might be the size of leaves in this metaphor – but outside of the trunk and branches, there is nothing.” Another word for this forest is the ‘cosmic web’, a visualisation of the universe where all matter hangs together in a web. Akira said that like a forest, the cosmic web is still evolving: “We want to understand its development, by looking at how it started. I hope to uncover the history of all matter, going back to the first billion years of the universe – to help us understand the evolution of galaxies and the emergence of the cosmic large-scale structure.”

Read more: An ERC for a 3D vision on the universe’s structure

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Lunch lecture: Superconducting On-chip Fabry–Pérot Resonators at Sub-millimeter Wavelengths

• Friday, 29 October 2021

Date: Friday November 5

Time: 12.00-13.00

Place; Faculty EEMCS, B.36, Snijderszaal

Register before November 3 via secr-ts-ewi@tudelft.nl

Abstract

Superconducting On-chip Fabry–Pérot Resonators at Sub-millimeter Wavelengths

Superconducting integrated circuits play a central role in the development of next-generation astronomical instruments at sub-millimeter wavelength.In order to reach the necessary efficiency for these instruments, a quantitative understanding of the losses within the circuit is required. Superconducting on-chip Fabry–Pérot resonators provide a sensitive and flexible way to measure transmission line losses at sub-Kelvin temperatures and sub-millimeter wavelengths.In this talk, we will discuss the development and application of on-chip Fabry–Pérot resonators for loss measurements of co-planar waveguides and microstrips at 350 GHz. We obtain very low losses for both types of transmission lines, reaching internal quality factors of close to 20,000 for a NbTiN co-planar waveguide.

European Microwave Week 2020

• Monday, 1 February 2021

Researchers from our Department, specifically from MS3, ELCA, QuTech, and THz groups, played a tremendous role both in the organisation of the event itself, originally planned to take physically place in Utrecht here in the Netherlands, and in the scientific contributions in the diverse fields of automotive technology, radar sensing, and microwave, THz, and quantum components and techniques.

Our scientific contributions included over 6 papers accepted and presented, 7 invited talks at different organised workshops and short courses, and at the Doctoral School and the Automotive Forum.

The most visible roles in the organisation of the even were the General TPC Chair, Prof Yarovoy, and the Treasurer, Dr Lager, plus the many researchers who volunteered as reviewers. Contributors to the scientific program of the conference in invited talks and workshops were also Dr Fioranelli, Dr Spirito, Dr Babaie, Dr Cavallo, Dr Sebastiano, Prof Vaucher, in addition to many PhD candidates and postdocs.

For more information on the event proceedings with papers and workshops, look at https://www.eumweek.com/docs/programme.pdf.

EuMW Announces Virtual Event for EuMW 2020

• Friday, 6 November 2020

In light of the global pandemic, growing numbers of cases in Europe, and related measures imposed by the respective authorities, European Microwave Week (EuMW) organizers have decided to make EuMW 2020 a virtual event this year while simultaneously planning for the next in-person event in London in October of 2021. EuMW 2020 includes the European Microwave Conference, the 15th European Microwave Integrated Circuits Conference, and the 17th European Radar Conference.

EuMW is organized by Horizon House on behalf of the European Microwave Association (EuMA), an international non-profit association with a scientific, educational and technical purpose. Earlier this year, event managers postponed the live, in-person event in Utrecht, The Netherlands to 10-15 January 2021 in the hopes that the global pandemic would have subsided by then. It has now become evident that it would be extremely difficult to safely gather attendees and exhibitors in person this year.

Event management has selected the vFairs platform to host the conference and virtual exhibit. VFairs is an immersive environment that allows users to comfortably browse content, network with exhibitors or peers, and attend live webinars with only a few clicks.

“As the next best thing to an in-person conference, we have now embraced all the good things that a virtual conference can bring. I am excited to make this happen!" said Frank van Vliet, EuMW 2020 General Chair. The EUMW 2020 virtual event will begin on 10 January 2021 and last until 15 January 2021. Attendees can access conference sessions and visit the virtual booths until 5 February. The event management team is reaching out to exhibitors and speakers now to arrange for the transition to a virtual program for EuMW 2020.

“Individuals and business worldwide are quickly adapting to the pandemic. Fortunately, the options for virtual events have improved considerably over just the last few months. End users have much more experience and comfort with virtual events than before COVID. Although nothing can replace the experience of a live conference and exhibition, we are confident that the virtual EuMW 2020 will be a great show for the microwave and RF community,” said Ivar Anderson Bazzy, President of Horizon House.

"We all want to see each other in person again, chat, talk, drink and eat together, exchange latest information but also gossips, etc. That is why we decided to keep a live event in Utrecht alive as long as possible until it really was no longer possible. The alternative, a full virtual conference and trade-show is now becoming a reality. I am sure that we can create an event with the same look and feel as the original live event, with many options for interaction and virtual meeting places while not compromising in quality. Don't miss it, it will be a unique event in the best traditions of EuMW where you can find information that you don't find anywhere else. Follow our posts on social media to stay up to date," said Frank van den Bogaart, President of EuMA.

The technical program remains robust with plans to transition all scheduled talks to the vFairs conference platform. The conference program is available here: https://www.eumweek.com/docs/programme.pdf

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Veni for Dr. Matús Rybak

• Friday, 6 November 2020

His research;

Zooming in on star factories in the early Universe

Observatory Will a star feel a difference between being born in Orion today, or in a dusty “star factory” galaxy 10 billion years ago? In this project, astronomers will use a new nanotechnology-powered instrument and magnification by gravity to understand the formation of new-born stars in the early universe.

CUM LAUDE PhD Defense – Yanki Aslan

• Friday, 28 August 2020

On Wednesday, August 26th, 2020 Yanki Aslan, the Ph.D. candidate in the MS3 group, successfully defended his Ph.D. work entitled “Antenna Array Synthesis and Beamforming for 5G Applications: An Interdisciplinary Approach” and graduated cum laude.

Congratulations to Yanki for this excellent result!

Now dr. Aslan will continue to work within the MS3 group as a postdoctoral researcher on a project in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA).

Abstract:

Realization of the future 5G systems requires the design of novel mm-wave base station antenna systems that are capable of generating multiple beams with low mutual interference while serving multiple users simultaneously using the same frequency band. Besides, small wavelengths and high packaging densities of front-ends lead to overheating of such systems, which prevents safe and reliable operation. Since the strict cost and energy requirements of the first phase 5G systems favor the use of low complexity beamforming architectures, computationally efficient signal processing techniques, and fully passive cooling strategies, it is a major challenge for the antenna community to design multibeam antenna topologies and front-ends with enhanced spatial multiplexing, limited inter-beam interference, acceptable implementation complexity, suitable processing burden, and natural-only/radiative cooling.Traditionally, array design has been performed based on satisfying the given criteria solely on the radiation patterns (gain, side lobe level (SLL), beamwidth etc.). However, in addition to the electromagnetic aspects, multi-beam antenna synthesis and performance evaluation in 5G systems at mm-waves must combine different disciplines, including but not limited to, signal processing, front-end circuitry design, thermal management, channel & propagation and medium access control aspects. Considering the interdisciplinary nature of the problem, the main objective of this research is to develop, evaluate and verify innovative multibeam array techniques and solutions for 5G base station antennas, not yet used nor proposed for mobile communications. The research topics include the investigation of (i) new array topologies, compatible with IC passive cooling, including sparse, space tapered arrays and optimized subarrays, meeting key requirements of 3-D multi-user coverage with frequency re-use and power-efficient side-lobe control, (ii) adaptive multiple beamforming strategies and digital signal processing algorithms, tailored to these new topologies, and (iii) lowcost/competitive and sufficiently generic implementation of the above array topologies and multi-beam generation concepts to serve multiple users with the same antenna(s) with the best spectrum and power efficiencies. This doctoral thesis consists of three parts. Part I focuses on the system-driven aspects which cover the system modeling (including the link budget and precoding), propagation in mm-wave channels, and statistical assessment of the Quality of Service (QoS). Although separate comprehensive studies exist both in the field of propagation/system modeling and antennas/beamforming, the link between the two disciplines is still weak. In this part, the aim of the study is to bridge the gap between the two domains and to identify the trade-offs between the complexity of beamforming, the QoS, and the computational cost of precoding in the 5G multi-beam base station arrays for various use cases. Based on the system model developed, a novel quantitative relation between the antenna SLLs/pattern nulls and the statistical QoS is established in a line-of-sight (LoS) dominated the mm-wave propagation scenario. Moreover, the potential of using smart (low in-sector side-lobe) array layouts (with simple beam steering) in obtaining sufficiently high and robust QoS, while achieving the optimally low processing costs is highlighted. For a possible pure non-line-of-sight (NLoS) scenario, the system advantages (in terms of the beamforming complexity and the interference level) of creating a single, directive beam towards the strongest multipath component of a user are explained via ray-tracing based propagation simulations. The insightful system observations from Part I lead to several fundamental research questions: Could we simplify the multiple beamforming architecture while keeping a satisfying QoS? Are there any efficient yet effective alternative interference suppression methods to further improve the QoS? How should we deal with the large heat generation at the base station? These questions, together with the research objectives, form the basis for the studies performed in the remaining parts. Part II of the thesis focuses on the electromagnetism-driven aspects which include innovative, low-complexity subarray based multibeam architectures and new array optimization strategies for effective SLL suppression. The currently proposed multi-beam 5G base stations in the literature for beamforming complexity reduction use either a hybrid array of phased subarrays, which limits the field-of-view significantly or employ a fully-connected analog structure, which increases the hardware requirements remarkably. Therefore, in the first half of this part, the aim is to design low-complexity hybrid (or hybrid-like) multiple beamforming topologies with a wide angular coverage. For this purpose, two new subarray based multiple beamforming concepts are proposed: (i) a hybrid array of active multiport subarrays with several digitally controlled Butler Matrix beams and (ii) an array of cosecant subarrays with a fixed cosecant shaped beam in elevation and digital beamforming in azimuth. Using the active (but not phased) multiport subarrays, the angular sector coverage is widened as compared to that of a hybrid array of phased subarrays, the system complexity is decreased as compared to that of a hybrid structure with a fully-connected analog network, and the effort in digital signal processing is reduced greatly. The cosecant subarray beamforming, on the other hand, is shown to be extremely efficient in serving multiple simultaneous co-frequency users in the case of a fairness-motivated LoS communication thanks to its low complexity and power equalization capability. Another critical issue with the currently proposed 5G antennas is the large inter-user interference caused by the high average SLL of the regular, periodic arrays. Therefore, in the second half of Part II, the aim is to develop computationally and power-efficient SLL suppression techniques that are compatible with the 5G’s multibeam nature in a wide angular sector. To achieve this, two novel techniques (based on iterative parameter perturbations) are proposed: (i) a phase-only control technique and (ii) a position-only control technique. The phase-only technique provides peak SLL minimization and simultaneous pattern nulling, which is more effective than the available phase tapering methods in the literature. The position-only technique, on the other hand, yields uniform-amplitude, (fully-aperiodic and quasi-modular) irregular planar phased arrays with simultaneous multibeam optimization. The latter technique combines interference-awareness (via multibeam SLL minimization in a predefined cell sector) and thermal-awareness (via uniform amplitudes and minimum element spacing constraint) for the first time in an efficient and easy-to-solve optimization algorithm. Part III of the thesis concentrates on the thermal-driven aspects which cover the thermal system modeling of electronics, passive cooling at the base stations, and the role of antenna researchers in array cooling. The major aim here is to form a novel connection between the antenna system design and thermal management, which is not yet widely discussed in the literature. In this part, an efficient thermal system model is developed to perform the thermal simulations. To effectively address the challenge of thermal management at the base stations, fanless CPU heatsinks are exploited for the first time for fully-passive and low-cost cooling of the active integrated antennas. To reduce the size of the heatsinks and ease the thermal problem, novel planar antenna design methodologies are also proposed. In the case of having a low thermal conductivity board, using a sparse irregular antenna array with a large inter-element spacing (such as a sunflower array) is suggested. Alternatively, for the densely packed arrays, increasing the equivalent substrate conductivity by using thick ground planes and simultaneously enlarging the substrate dimensions is proven to be useful. The performed research presents the first-ever irregular/sparse and subarray based antennas with wide scan multi-beam capability, low temperature, high-efficiency power amplifiers, and low level of side lobes. The developed antenna arrays and beam generation concepts could have also an impact over a broad range of applications where they should help overcome the capacity problem by use of multiple adaptive antennas, improve reliability and reduce interference.

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SSCS WYE Webinar

• Tuesday, 4 August 2020

Webinar: To Academia, or to Industry, That is the Question. Presented by: Kofi Makinwa and Shin-Lien Lu

Abstract:

You are about to finish graduate school or perhaps a young or seasoned professional, contemplating a career transition. Which is better - a career in academia or industry? What are the pros and cons of one versus the other? How can you start exploring and build up your career accordingly? In this webinar, we will interview Dr. Linus Lu, a professor-turned-industry veteran, and Prof. Kofi Makinwa, an industry veteran-turned-professor, who will share their insights and perspectives from their personal journeys in both academia and industry careers. They will also address what triggered their transitions, how they staged their transitions, and offer their crystal ball projections on present and future career prospects in the solid-state-circuits profession.

REGISTER TODAY!

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Cum Laude PhD Defense Sven van Berkel

• Thursday, 16 July 2020

The research

In millimeter and submillimeter-wave radiometric imaging systems, a persistent goal is the increase in the speed of acquisition of the image while maintaining a high sensitivity. Typically, the highest sensitivity is achieved by cryogenically cooling the detectors, specifically in astronomical applications. However, for the purpose of low-cost imaging applications, it is desirable to operate at room temperature. Without cryogenically cooling, the electronic noise introduced by the detectors becomes dominant, making the detectors less sensitive. In this thesis focal plane architectures are proposed that maximizes the imaging speed of radiometers operating at room temperature without using any amplification circuitry. It is shown that in such scenario a practical image acquisition speed can still be achieved when a very broad portion of the THz-band is exploited. Ultimately, the imaging speed is maximized when the FPA is undersampled, implying a tradeoff in the size of the optics. The analysis is substantiated by a case study with recently developed wideband leaky lens antenna feeds operating from 200 to 600 GHz. THe entire front end has been developed, fabricated (CMOS Technology) and characterized, demonstrating the complete feasibility of passive imaging in the THz frequencies at neglibile costs. The implications for the automotive and security applications are dramatic, as detecting obstacles in fog, and spotting concealed weapons or bombs can now be done at negligible costs (tens of euros). That these systems will be in our future lives is now sure. When this will happen, as usual, will depend on the market request.

Future Dr. Sven van Berkel

Sven has already signed a contract at NASA, in California where he will start working as soon as the Covid lockdown stops.

Opening Airport Technology Lab

• Tuesday, 26 May 2020

This Friday, May 29 at 15:30, the opening of the Airport Technology Lab will be done by Ron Louwerse (Director of the Rotterdam The Hague Airport), Prof. dr. ir. Tim van der Hagen (President of the Board and Rector Magnificus of TU Delft) and Henk Jan Gerzee (Chief Digital Officer of the Royal Schiphol Group).

The Microwave Sensing, Signals, and Systems section (Department of Microelectronics, EEMCS faculty), chaired by Professor DSc. Alexander Yarovoy, participates in the Laboratory and is going to use their professional expertise and advanced radar facilities to develop modern remote sensing techniques to extend the sensing capability of airport radars for constant weather monitoring. This real-time monitoring with high spatial and temporal resolution is aiming to improve air traffic planning (departing/arriving on time, less fuel, less noise, less pollution, etc.) and safety.

The Airport Technology Lab (ATL) is an organization for the development, test, and demonstration of the innovative products and services for airports. The digitization of everything that happens at airports and the application of Artificial Intelligence is increasing exponentially. With all that data and the right IT platform, companies can create and test new services and products. The most successful innovations will help to provide passengers with more comfort and convenience, make the airliners maintain smoother and more efficient flights, and the handlers will optimize their processes. Ultimately, the airport also contributes (extra) to its social responsibility to reduce air pollution, CO2 emissions and noise pollution.

Dutch-Japanese astronomical instrument measures 49 shades of far-infrared

• Wednesday, 4 September 2019

The Dutch-Japanese made DESHIMA instrument has passed its first practical tests when measuring the distances and ages of distant galaxies. The core of the instrument is a chip the size of two euro coins that measures 49 shades of far infrared light. The developers of the spectrometer publish the results of their first measurement campaign (first light) on Monday 5 August in the journal Nature Astronomy.

Measuring distances and ages in the universe is a problem. The brightness of a star or a galaxy says little about age. Astronomers bypass this problem by measuring the doppler effect of light from galaxies. The redder the light, the higher the speed, the farther the galaxy. Unfortunately, the redshift of many galaxies in the early universe cannot be measured with visible light, because starlight is shaded by dust clouds surrounding these galaxies. Measuring the redshift of these galaxies requires observing in far infrared.

49 channels

In October 2017, Dutch and Japanese researchers, led by Akira Endo (Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands), mounted the special chip on the Japanese ASTE telescope in North Chile. The superconducting chip is developed by Delft University of Technology and SRON, Netherlands Institute for Space Research. The chip contains one antenna, 49 filters and 49 detectors. The antenna captures radiation of various wavelengths. The filters unravel the radiation in 49 tones of infrared. The 49 detectors measure the intensity of the radiation. When a detector picks up a signal, it can be seen as a peak in a graph.

First light

The first tests with the telescope, the so-called first light, were promising. The astronomers first focused the telescope-with-chip on Mars, Saturn and a number of well-known stars and galaxies. When they saw the expected slope in the graph without significant problems, the researchers aimed the telescope at the well-known distant galaxy VV114 and saw the predicted redshift.

The researchers are now working on a chip that can cope with 300 tones of infrared instead of the current 49. This allows them to determine the distances to galaxies that have hitherto been hidden behind dust clouds. In addition, the researchers want to link multiple chips so that they can study multiple galaxies at the same time. The development must lead to a handy-sized imaging spectrometer that is easy to use on a ground based telescope and is a must for use with space telescopes.

Incidentally, the first tests on the telescope in Chile almost failed due to material problems. There was something wrong with the cooling system of the chip. The researchers had brought spare parts for the cooling system, but they had forgotten the pins to align the parts. After searching for hours in the town of San Pedro de Atacama, the researchers came to jeweler Jose Pinto. In Pinto's toolbox, they found a piece of copper wire with exactly the right diameter. With that they could make the forgotten pins. And so the instrument was rescued and the tests could start.

Publications

• A. Endo, K. Karatsu, Y. Tamura, T. Oshima, A. Taniguchi, T. Takekoshi, S. Asayama, Tom J.L.C. Bakx, S. Bosma, J. Bueno, K. Chin, Y. Fujii, K. Fujita, R. Huiting, S. Ikarashi, T. Ishida, S. Ishii, R. Kawabe, T.M. Klapwijk, K. Kohno, A. Kouchi, N. Llombart, J. Maekawa, V. Murugesan, S. Nakatsubo, M. Naruse, K. Ohtawara, A. Pascual Laguna, J. Suzuki, K. Suzuki, D.J. Thoen, T. Tsukagoshi, T. Ueda, P.J. de Visser, P.P. van der Werf, S.J.C. Yates, Y. Yoshimura, O. Yurduseven, J.J.A. Baselmans, "First light demonstration of the integrated superconducting spectrometer," Nature Astronomy (2019)
• A. Endo, K. Karatsu, A. Pascual Laguna, B. Mirzaei, R. Huiting, D.J. Thoen, V. Murugesan, S.J.C. Yates, J. Bueno, N. van Marrewijk, S. Bosma, O. Yurduseven, N. Llombart, J. Suzuki, M. Naruse, P.J. de Visser, P.P. van der Werf, T.M. Klapwijk, and J.J.A. Baselmans, "Wideband on-chip terahertz spectrometer based on a superconducting filterbank," J. of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and Systems, 5(3), 035004 (2019).

Grants

The DESHIMA project (http://deshima.ewi.tudelft.nl ) is made possible in part thanks to grants from NWO, JSPS and the ERC.

Contact

• Dr. Akira Endo
  THz Sensing Group, Delft University of Technology & Kavli Institute of Nanoscience Delft
  +31 15 278 8183
  a.endo@tudelft.nl
  http://terahertz.tudelft.nl/~endo/
  
• Prof. dr. ir. Jochem Baselmans
  SRON, Netherlands Institute for Space Research
  jochem@sron.nl
  https://www.sron.nl/personal-profiles?uname=Jochem_Baselmans
  
• Prof. dr. Paul van der Werf
  Leiden Observatory, Leiden University
  pvdwerf@strw.leidenuniv.nl
  https://home.strw.leidenuniv.nl/~pvdwerf/
  https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/medewerkers/paul-van-der-werf
  

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Thales Naval Nederland Delft celebrates 20 years

• Thursday, 16 May 2019

Yesterday the MS3 group congratulated our close partner Thales Naval Nederland who celebrates 20 years of their location in Delft. It is an important milestone for Thales Nederland, as soon as the research and development are mainly done in Delft.

First Microelectronics Synergy Grants

• Friday, 22 February 2019

According to Professor Geert Leus who heads the ME Research Committee, the Synergy Grants are also intended to kick-start the research of young faculty, as it can be quite challenging for them to obtain funding at the beginning of their research careers. The grants cover half the costs of a PhD candidate, with the rest coming from existing research funding. ‘The submitted proposals were carefully evaluated by the ME Research Committee on the basis of their scientific quality, their clarity and feasibility, the synergy between the participating sections, and the relationship to the departmental themes. The ME Management Team (MT) then decided to award Synergy Grants to the top three proposals.’

Changes

The aim of the grants is to encourage newly emerging combinations of technologies and to facilitate cross-overs between them, thus strengthening and broadening the department's research portfolio. This goal fits seamlessly within the research strategy of ME, which has defined itself around the four themes of Health & Wellbeing, XG, Safety & Security and Autonomous Systems to better address societal challenges.

Winners

Last week, the winners were received by the ME MT. They received flowers from the head of the department (Kofi Makinwa) and had the opportunity to briefly present their proposals to the assembled MT. Below are short descriptions of the successful proposals.

Akira Endo & Sten Vollebregt: ‘The aim of our project TANDEM: Terahertz Astronomy with Novel DiElectric Materials is to develop advanced dielectric materials to realize superconducting microstrip lines with very low losses in the frequency ranges of 2-10 GHz and 100-1000 GHz. The PhD candidate will combine the dielectric deposition, characterization, material expertise and facilities of the ECTM group and the Else Kooi Laboratory, and the submillimetre wave device measurement capability of the THz Sensing Group and SRON. The aim is not only to realize low loss dielectrics, but also to understand the underlying physics that governs these losses. If successful, these microstrips will be immediately applied to enhance the sensitivity of the DESHIMA spectrometer on the ASTE telescope in Chile.’

Bori Hunyadi: ‘On one hand, the vast complexity of the human brain (10^11 neurons and 10^14 connections) enables us to process large amounts of information in the fraction of a second. At the same time, imperfections of the wiring in this vast network cause devastating neurological and psychiatric conditions such as epilepsy or schizophrenia. Therefore, understanding brain function is one of the greatest and most important scientific challenges of our times. Brain function manifests as various physical phenomena (electrical or e.g. metabolic) at different spatial and temporal scales. Therefore, the PhD candidate working on this grant will develop a novel multimodal and multiresolution brain imaging paradigm combining EEG and a novel imaging technique, fUS. The specific engineering challenge is to understand and describe the fUS signal characteristics, deal with the large amount of data it records using efficient computational tools; and finally, formulate the specification of a dedicated non-invasive, multimodal, wearable EEG-fUS device.’

Virgilio Valente & Massimo Mastrangeli: ‘The seed money of the Synergy Grant will partially support a joint PhD candidate to investigate the tight integration of an heart-on-chip device with dedicated electronic instrumentation in the same platform. Our aim is to bring sensing and readout electronics as close as possible to a cardiac tissue cultivated within a dedicated micro physiological device. The grant helps promoting the logical convergence between current departmental research activities at ECTM and BE and within the Netherlands Organ-on-Chip Initiative (NOCI) on the development of instrumented organ-on-chip devices.’

KNAW chooses Kofi Makinwa

• Thursday, 26 April 2018

Prof. Dr. Kofi Makinwa, Professor Electronic Instrumentation and chair of the Micro Electronic department to the faculty of EEMCS, is selected as a new member of The Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences (KNAW). Members of the KNAW, leading scientists from all disciplines, are chosen on their scientific achievements. The new academy members will be installed in September.

Professor Kofi Makinwa builds sensors based on chip technology. One of his achievements is a wind sensor without moving parts. Sensors form the connection between the real world and computers. ‘My field involves designing smart sensors: microchips that combine sensors and signal processing,’ explains the TU Delft Professor of Microelectronics. ‘I build chips that can ‘feel’ their environment, as it were, that can process this information and subsequently transfer it to a computer, all in one. Chip technology means that we can produce them very cheaply. Tyre pressure sensors in cars are one example of such a sensor. They measure the pressure in a rotating tyre and communicate the information wirelessly to the dashboard. Or the temperature sensors that can be found everywhere nowadays: in your smartphone, your car, your household appliances. Sensors that I developed at TU Delft are now in production at companies including SiTime, AMS and NXP, and are being used in Apple’s latest gadgets, for example’. Students appreciate Makinwa's enthusiasm and involvement. Thanks to Makinwa's contacts with the industry, they can often convert their designs into real prototypes. Makinwa was previously a member of the Young Academy of the KNAW and invented a cheap weather station for developing countries.

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TU Delft "Female Fellowship" Tenure Track Academic Positions

• Monday, 16 October 2017

All academic levels; apply before Jan 8, 2018.

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Winner Internet of Things Pitch: Sjoerd Bosma

• Friday, 21 July 2017

On July 5th 2017 The Micro-electronics organized an Internet of Things pitch session in which staff and students could present an idea in two minutes. Eventually ten ideas were pitched followed by the yearly summer drinks.

Winner of the pitches is master student Sjoerd Bosma. With his pitch Future Intelligent & Autonomous System for Coordinated Open parking Spaces (FIASCOS) he thought of a solution to avoid endlessly driving around in circles trying to find a parking spot in the inner cities. He suggests putting free parking spots in navigation systems. Energy harvesting technologies can be used for that; little sensors that harvest their own energy from their surroundings. These sensors can be built in e.g. little speed bumps in front of each spot. In that way the sensor can know if there is a car parked in the spot and can pass on that information to the navigation system.

Sjoerd admitts that he is probably not the first persons that thinks of connecting parking spots to navigation systems. Probably people are working on simular solutions, but with expensive wiring and infrared camera's. The little energy harvesting sensors would be much cheaper and maintenance free.

It doesn't have that much to do with Sjoerds master thesis. He will graduate in the Terra Hertz Sensing group in August where he worked on antennas and optics for sub-milimeter astronomy.

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BSc Group at ELCA awarded with IEEE Best High Tech Start-up Business Plan

• Monday, 10 July 2017

At the Bachelor Electrical Engineering Graduation Grand Finale held on 7 July 2017, the six-student group formed by Bilal Bouazzata, Laurens Buijs, Jun Feng, Martijn Hoogelander, Alexander Louwerse and Niels van der Kolk received the IEEE Best High Tech Start-up Business Plan award from Koen Bertels for their business plan on the topic of their graduation project at ELCA.

The group was supervised by Marco Pelk and Morteza Alavi while the project was proposed by Leo de Vreede.

During this project, the group accomplished a proof of concept for a promising "interpolating-supply" power amplifier efficiency enhancement technique, laying a foundation for future research.

BEST PAPER AWARD for DANIELE CAVALLO at EuCAP 2017

• Monday, 27 March 2017

Daniele Cavallo received the "Best Paper Award in Electromagnetics and Antenna Theory" at the European Conference on Antennas and Propagation (EuCAP 2017), held in Paris, France, on 19-24 March 2017.

The paper awarded is titled "Analysis of Artificial Dielectrics Composed of Non-Aligned Layers," and was coauthored with the master student Cantika Felita.

EuCAP is one of the major international conferences in the field of antennas and propagation, with about 1300 attendees from academia, research centers and industry and 950 papers presented.

Vacancy: Team manager for Electrical Engineering Education (EEE)

• Thursday, 6 October 2016

The Faculty of EEMCS is creating a special team to fully focus on teaching using our unique and innovative ‘Delft method’. This method integrates practical and theoretical electrical engineering education and trains students to be hands-on, theoretically versed electrical engineers ready for a future career in science or industry.

We are looking for a team manager specialising in Electrical Engineering Education (EEE) who will be both a group leader and a teacher in his/her capacity as the role model of EE Education.

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7 July 2016: Opening of CryoLab for Extremely Sensitive Electronic Measurements

• Friday, 8 July 2016

The CryoLab of TU Delft's Faculty of EEMCS has been opened on Thursday 7 July by the dean Rob Fastenau. TU Delft scientists from the Tera-Hertz Sensing Group, Jochem Baselmans and Akira Endo, will be leading a team of young scientists and engineers working in the lab on astronomical instrumentation. The first instrument, DESHIMA (Delft SRON High-redshift Mapper), is being developed to be operated on the ASTE telescope in the Atacama Desert in Chile. The goal of the research is to create 3D charts of so-called submillimetre galaxies that, in contrast to 2D charts, also show distance and time.

The large number of superconducting detectors, and the advanced electronics developed at SRON, allows DESHIMA to map a very large volume of space at once. While Endo leads the development of DESHIMA, Baselmans will soon install the next cryostat for testing novel THz array antennas, that will enable his upcoming instrument MOSAIC to target multiple galaxies at once. In the future, the CryoLab is envisioned to also host new coolers from QuTech. Superconducting electronics used for astronomical instrumentation and quantum electronics have much in common, because they both push the limits of what can be observed.

Best Paper Award at EuCAP

• Tuesday, 17 May 2016

The paper "Large Format Arrays of Antenna Coupled Kinetic Inductance Detectors for THz Astronomy" has received the "Best Paper Award on Electromagnetism and Antenna Theory" at the 10th European Conference on Antennas and Propagation, held in Davos, Switzerland, on 10-15 April 2016.

The authors of the paper are:
Jochem Baselmans (SRON); Juan Bueno (SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research); Ozan Yurduseven; Nuria LLombart (Delft University of Technology); Stephen Yates (SRON); Andrey Baryshev (SRON & University of Groningen, Kapteyn Astronomical Institute); Akira Endo (TUDelft); David Thoen (Kavli Institute of NanoScience, Delft University of Technology); Andrea Neto (Delft University of Technology);

Else Kooi Award for PhD candidate Tera-Hertz Sensing Group

• Wednesday, 23 March 2016

On March 23, 2016 the Else Kooi Award has been awarded to dr. Waqas Syed. The Award Ceremony took place on the yearly congress in Amersfoort (The Netherlands). During the ceremony Syed held a presentation "On the Control of Surface Waves in Integrated Antennas". The chair of the Else Kooi Award foundation professor dr. ing. B. Nauta presented the Award to Syed.

Dr Waqas Syed has been granted the Award for his scientific research on the analysis and design of artificial dielectric layers, and their application to advanced antenna and antenna array structures. Waqas Syed obtained his PhD in June 2015 at the Tera Hertz Sensing Group of the EEMCS Faculty, Delft University of Technology.

The Else Kooi Award is an annual award for young researchers in the field of applied semiconductor research conducted in the Netherlands. The award comes with a prize of 5,000 euros.

The judging-committee was very impressed of Syed's publication track record. They said: "The research by Dr Syed is characterized by an excellent analytical insight in the properties of electromagnetically engineered materials. These novel materials are easy to realize and they will enable the design of cost-effective planar antennas/antenna arrays for the automotive radar industry, satellite communications and high speed Terabit Communication".

Contact For more information please contact Prof. Edoardo Charbon from the Else Kooi Award foundation: phone +31 (0)15 278 36 67, email: e.charbon@tudelft.nl

Nuria Llombart invited to present a paper EuCAP 2016

• Wednesday, 16 March 2016

Nuria Llombart Juan has been invited to present a paper EuCAP 2016, the topic will be Wide Field of View THz Imaging Camera. The EuCAP, 10th European Conference of Antennas and Propagation will be held in Davos in Switzerland from 10 - 15 April 2016.

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Happy 2016!

• Thursday, 14 January 2016

Here are some pictures of the New Year Reception of the Microelectronics department

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Research into the Universe

• Tuesday, 12 January 2016

'We could discover something that could change our whole view of the Universe'

Astronomer Dr Akira Endo is working on a brand-new measuring instrument that should lead to great improvements in how astronomers study the most active galaxies. This new spectrometer, named DESHIMA, could give us insights into the origins of stars and galaxies. We talked to this ambitious Japanese scientist from the Tera Hertz Sensing Research group at the faculty of EEMCS about key moments in his scientific career.

Read the whole interview with Akira Endo in the Staff Magazine 'Quadraad'of the faculty of EEMCS in December 2015.

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Waqas H. Syed wins 2016 Else Kooi Award

• Tuesday, 12 January 2016

The 2016 Else Kooi Award has been granted to Dr W.H. Syed for his scientific research on the analysis and design of artificial dielectric layers, and their application to advanced antenna and antenna array structures. The Else Kooi Award is an annual award for young researchers in the field of applied semiconductor research conducted in the Netherlands. The award comes with a prize of 5,000 euros.

Waqas Syed obtained his PhD in June 2015 at the Delft University of Technology at the faculty of Electrical Engineering Mathematics and Computer Science. Being part of the Tera Hertz Sensing Group, his promotor was Professor A. Neto and his supervisor Dr D. Cavallo.

The research by Dr Syed is characterized by an excellent mix of analytical insight in the properties of artificial dielectric layers (ADL), synthesis of innovative antenna concepts which exploit ADLs, development of the technology needed to process these structures and accurate experimental characterization. The practical relevance of the strong suppression of surface-wave effects enabled by the use of ADLs is high, both in the field of communication and in the applications of THz radiation. His publication track record is outstanding.

Syed will receive the award during a special ceremony on Wednesday 23 March at the ICT.OPEN symposium. The exact time of the award ceremony and presentation of Waqas Syed is 11.30 � 12.30 in the SAFE and ProRISC track. For more information please contact Prof. Edoardo Charbon from the Else Kooi Award foundation: Phone +31 (0)15 278 36 67, email: e.charbon@tudelft.nl

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Andrea Neto, named 2016 IEEE Fellow

• Thursday, 3 December 2015

Piscataway, New Jersey, USA, December 2016: Andrea Neto, Professor, from Delft, The Netherlands has been named an IEEE Fellow. He is being recognized for contributions to dielectric lens antennas and wideband arrays.

The IEEE Grade of Fellow is conferred by the IEEE Board of Directors upon a person with an outstanding record of accomplishments in any of the IEEE fields of interest. The total number selected in any one year cannot exceed one-tenth of one- percent of the total voting membership. IEEE Fellow is the highest grade of membership and is recognized by the technical community as a prestigious honor and an important career achievement.

He performed revolutionary research in the analysis and design of antennas, with emphasis on arrays, and dielectric lens antennas, largely in the field of THz front ends. Andrea Neto (M�00�SM�10) received the Laurea degree in Electronic Engineering from the University of Florence, Italy, in 1994, and the Ph.D. degree in electromagnetics from the University of Siena, Italy, in 2000.

He has served as associate editor of IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation and IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters. He is member of the Technical Board of the European School of Antennas. In 2011 he was awarded the European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant to perform research on Advanced Antenna Architectures for THz Sensing Systems. In February 2010 he has been appointed Full Professor of Applied Electromagnetism at the Technical University of Delft, the Netherlands. He is now part of the Microelectronics Department. He formed, and now leads the THz Sensing Group.

The IEEE is the world�s leading professional association for advancing technology for humanity. Through its 400,000 members in 160 countries, the IEEE is a leading authority on a wide variety of areas ranging from aerospace systems, computers and telecommunications to biomedical engineering, electric power and consumer electronics.

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TU Delft Female Fellowship Tenure Track Openings

• Friday, 9 October 2015

Academic openings at all professor levels

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Congratulations to Prof. dr. Sarro with her royal honour

• Friday, 24 April 2015

Professor Lina Sarro, professor of micro-electronics at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science, has been made a Knight in the Order of the Netherlands Lion, in The Hague.

She received the award because of her original research that resulted in a large scientific body of work and because of her in-depth involvement with her many students. Her pioneering work in the 1980s in the field of infrared sensors led to international acclaim. Since 1987, she has been in charge of research into micro and nanosystems (MEMS and NEMS) at the Else Kooi Lab, which was known previously as the Dimes Institute for Microsystems and Nanoelectronics.

Professor Sarro has published more than 200 articles in scientific journals and has received awards for her work on several occasions. In 2004, she received the Eurosensors Fellow Award, in 2007 the AISEM Career Award, and in 2012 the IEEE Sensors Council Meritorious Award. She is also a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) and a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. She has been praised on account of both her scientific work and her unfailing commitment to providing teaching of a high standard.

To her students, from both inside and outside the Netherlands, she is a figurehead. This applies perhaps in particular to female students and academics. In 2005, Professor Sarro became the first female to join the TU Delft Council of Professors. She is dedicated to emphasising the role of female scientists, in the conviction that it is a waste to use only half of our scientific assets. Her outstanding scientific reputation ensures that her voice is heard in this, and in other issues.

Nuria Llombart awarded by ERC grant

• Friday, 27 February 2015

The European Research Council has awarded associate professor Nuria Llombart Juan of the Tera Hertz Sensing group a prestigious starting grant (1.5 million euros) for her research proposal �Lens antenna arrays for THz coherent cameras�.

The THz region was, traditionally, limited to applications in radio astronomy and space science. In recent years, THz systems have expanded into many more areas of science, defense, security, and non-destructive industrial applications. Microwave based THz cameras have demonstrated the highest sensitivity at large distances. However, their current state of the art is comparable to the first analog photographic cameras characterized by long exposition times. Two fundamental problems have to be addressed to change this situation: technologically, there is the lack of integrated coherent arrays with high power and sensitivity; and theoretically, a field representation to characterize analytically these systems is missing.

�I propose to tackle the technological problem by exploiting the coherency between small antenna arrays coupled to actuated lenses to overcome the sensitivity problem and achieve instantaneous refocusing (i.e. zooming). The proposed antenna technology is based on a recent breakthrough that I pioneered: micro-lenses excited by leaky waves with seamless integration in silicon technology. This antenna enables the fabrication of large fly�s eye cameras in just two wafers, and promises one order of magnitude better scanning performances than previous solutions. An analytical model to investigate the electromagnetic response of coherent THz arrays is the enabling tool for optimizing the camera performances. I will develop this tool by combining advance spectral antenna techniques with coherent Fourier Optics. This model will not only be used in new beamforming techniques, but also for the characterization of future THz telecommunication links.�

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Jochem Baselmans awarded by ERC grant

• Friday, 30 January 2015

The European Research Council has awarded SRON researchers Jochem Baselmans, visiting professor of the Tera Hertz Sensing group (2.4 million euros) and Peter Jonker (2 million euros) prestigious research grants for independent groundbreaking research. Jonker will chase intermediate-mass black holes to find out if they really exist. Baselmans will develop a revolutionary instrument to measure the redshift of submillimeter galaxies, distant galaxies that are responsible for the cosmic infrared background radiation.

Baselmans and Jonker have both been awarded an ERC Consolidator Grant that enables top researchers to consolidate their independent research program and/or research group. With this funding instrument the ERC wants to strengthen new excellent research. Baselmans and Jonker can use this European grant to appoint new and highly promising researchers over the next five years.

Source and more information:
Sron Netherlands Institute for Space Research

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Characterization of Printed Transmission Lines at high frequencies

• Friday, 30 January 2015

This project will develop a MATLAB-tool allowing for fast characterization of printed transmission lines in terms of ohmic, dielectric and radiative losses. It also gives a quick evaluation of impedance matching.

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NWO Veni-grant for TU Delft researcher Dr. Daniele Cavallo

• Tuesday, 29 July 2014

Dr. Daniele Cavallo has been awarded a 3 year NWO-Veni grant to develop integrated technology solutions for generation and detection of Terahertz (THz) waves. He is a post-doc in the THz Sensing group, within the department of Microelectronics at Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands. The title of his proposal is ?Efficient On-Chip Antennas for Terahertz Applications?.

Terahertz waves
THz radiation has ideal properties for communication, security, imaging, and spectroscopy applications. THz waves penetrate through clothes and plastics and can lead to security scanners with new capabilities; thanks to their huge bandwidth, they can also enable ultrafast wireless communication, providing data transfer with unprecedented speed. Despite these attractive properties, THz radiation is scarcely used due to prohibitive costs and complexity of current systems.

Integrated technology
Integrated technology promises affordable and compact THz systems, to enable their use for viable applications. However, realizing a workable THz silicon chip is very challenging, because of the limited sensitivity that can be achieved (as detector) or the limited power that can be generated (as source). These limitations are largely attributable to the poor performance of integrated antennas, responsible for the conversion between electrical (on-chip) and radiated (off-chip) signals.

Enhanced radiation from chips
To improve the performance of on-chip antennas, Cavallo proposes two novel concepts: (1) ?connected arrays?, i.e. multiple antennas connected one to another to overcome the disadvantages of isolated antennas and enlarge the bandwidth; (2) ?artificial dielectrics?, i.e. materials engineered to have properties that may not be found in nature, capable of enhancing the radiation. His approach will solve the inefficiency problems of silicon-based antennas. This will result in sufficient sensitivity/output power of THz chips to enable their use for real-time security scanning and ultra-fast (terabit) wireless links.

Innovational Research Incentitives Scheme
The Veni grant amounts to a maximum of 250,000 Euros and is one of the three types of grants in the Innovational Research Incentives Scheme. The two other grant types are the Vidi (for experience post-docs) and the Vici (for very experienced researchers). The Innovational Research Incentives Scheme was set up in cooperation with the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, the Royal Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Dutch universities.

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Nuria Llombart wins Lot Shafai Mid-Career Award

• Wednesday, 14 May 2014

Nuria Llombart, assistant professor at the Tera Hertz Sensing Group, EEMCS Faculty TU Delft, has won the prestigious 2014 IEEE Antenna and Propagation Society Lot Shafai Mid-Career Distinguished Achievement Award.

She is praised for her original contributions to terahertz antennas and quasi-optical systems, her academic leadership, and for being a proven role model for women in antenna engineering. The award will be presented at the IEEE APS/URSI Symposium in Memphis in July 2014. The Lot Shafai Mid-Career Distinguished Achievement Award was established in 2013 to recognise the past technical accomplishments and future potential of an outstanding woman of mid-career status in the field of antennas and propagation.

European Conf Antennas Propagation

• Thursday, 10 April 2014

TU Delft is platinum sponser and exhibitor at the EuCAP 2014 - The 8th European Conference on Antennas and Propagation, to be held at the World Forum in The Hague, The Netherlands, on 7 to 11 April 2014.

The Microelectronics (ME) department from the faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science, includes research groups actively engaged on teaching and research in the field of antennas and propagation.

Located within the microelectronics department, the mission of the THz Sensing Group is to introduce breakthrough antenna technology that will revolutionize THz Sensing for Space based and Earth based applications. In the long term the research will enable multi Tera-bit wireless communications.

Nuria Llombart wins best paper award

• Saturday, 5 April 2014

The THz Science and Technology Best Paper Award is given annually to the best paper published in the IEEE Transactions on Terahertz Science and Technology in the previous calendar year. Nuria Llombart Juan, assistant professor of the Tera Hertz Sensing group from the Electrical Engineering Faculty together with her collaborators at JPL/NASA win the 2014 award with the publication entitled "Silicon Micromachined Lens Antenna for THz Integrated Heterodyne Arrays".

The IEEE Transactions on Terahertz Science and Technology is a journal supported by the Microwave Theory and Techniques (MTT) Society, an over 60 year old society of engineering professionals from the IEEE which ?promotes the advancement of microwave theory and its applications, including RF, microwave, millimeter-wave, and terahertz technologies?

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PhD Thesis Defence

• Monday, 21 -- Monday, 21 October 2024
• 17:30-19:00
• Senate Hall, Aula

Advanced Electromagnetic Modelling of the Next Generation (XG) Wireless Communication Systems

Riccardo Ozzola

The expectation is that XG communications will have a disruptive impact in their
applications in smart cities, industrial automation, agriculture, e-health, smart grids,
domotics, and autonomous driving. However, such scenarios imply the availability of
technology that cannot be met resorting to incremental changes in present techniques.
Specifically, it is now apparent that the ultrawideband massive MIMO in both the
microwave and sub-THz bands will be needed.

By exploiting larger bandwidths, unprecedented data rates will be achieved for
MIMO applications in the microwave band. Before this work, wideband arrays have
been considered unsuitable for MIMO applications due to the high levels of interelements
mutual coupling. However in this work it has been proven that if the entire
array is coherently excited, multiple orthogonal beams can be generated, regardless
of the inter-element mutual coupling. The orthogonality levels depend solely on the
beam overlap and, therefore, on the beam width, the side lobes, and the position of
the nulls.

Moreover, a wideband phased array has been designed for sub-8 GHz MIMO
communications. The array is realized in the form of a dual-polarized connected slot
array with interchangeable Artificial Dielectric Layers (ADLs) radome. This allows
the array to scan up to 60◦ in every azimuthal cut while being matched between 6
and 8 GHz with the first radome, and 2 and 8 GHz with the second one. Finally, an
8 × 8 prototype is manufactured and tested.

Due to the long wavelength at microwave bands, the antenna size is the largest
constraint when it comes to MIMO applications, especially for wideband operations.
To this aim, a new metric is developed to assess the signal and the interference
of MIMO antennas constrained within a given volume. This allows us to compare
the performance of an intended antenna design or even a realized prototype to the
one of the maximum gain antenna located within the given volume. By means of
these concepts, it is possible to link the MIMO performance with the antenna size to
optimize the space.

The second road to high data rates for MIMO application is the use of higher frequencies
(sub-THz) communications. The main hindrance to integrated antennas for
this regime is the technological challenge due to microfabrication and the integration
with the electronics. This calls for accurate simulations that enable optimal designs.

For this purpose, an integral equation solver was developed to study dielectric
lenses together with their feeds. At high frequency, the thickness of the metal plays
an important role and cannot be neglected. Due to the different scales involved in the
feed and in the lens, the required computational effort might be prohibitive. Therefore,
a method has been devised to combine the numerical solution with analytical
results to enable large-scale simulations. The impedance of an integrated antenna
can be seen as composed of the reactance of the feed, the impedance of the feed
radiating in a semi-infinite space without reflections, and an impedance associated
with the reflections. While the former two can be evaluated analytically or with fast
numerical simulations, the latter requires a time-intensive full-wave simulation of the
entire problem. However, this can be simplified by synthesizing a much coarser feed,
which radiates equivalently into the semi-infinite medium. Having this much coarser
discretization it allows us to simplify the simulation of the entire problem and to isolate
the reflections conveniently. Then, all the components can be combined together,
and the input impedance can be estimated accurately.

Additional information ...

PhD Thesis Defence

• Wednesday, 2 October 2024
• 17:30-19:00
• Aula Senaatszaal

3D Motion-Based High-Resolution Imaging Techniques for Automotive Radar

Sen Yuan

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PhD Thesis Defence

• Wednesday, 18 September 2024
• 17:30-19:00
• Aula Senaatszaal

Automotive Polarimetric Radar for Enhanced Road Surface Classification & Vulnerable Road User Identification

Wietse Bouwmeester

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ME colloquium

• Thursday, 23 May 2024
• 16:30-17:30
• EEMCS, Ampere

The THz Catastrophe

Andrea Neto

The THz Catastrophe: 

Planck’s Law failure to explain thermal radiation experiments on Silicon Wafers, and the perfect match offered by the new classical theory based on Degrees of Freedom.

Abstract— The thermal energy radiated by silicon wafers is characterized experimentally in the mm and sub-mm wave ranges. The samples are heated and the energy they radiate thermally is captured by horn antennas and then detected. For moderate conductivities the measurements show a descending pattern as a function of the frequency which is not in line with expectations from Planck’s law.  The Degrees of Freedom theory presented last year to this same audience provides a perfect, completely classical  explanation for the results. Should these experiments have been available 120 years ago, the community of the time would probably have been concerned about avoiding the THz catastrophe, rather than the Ultraviolet catastrophe!

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ME colloquium

• Thursday, 22 -- Thursday, 22 February 2024
• 15:30-16:30
• EEMCS, Chip

Nonstandard Inverse Scattering Problems in Electrical Engineering – From Wave Speed Inversion in Transmission Lines to Electrical Properties Tomography of Tissue

Rob Remis

Nonstandard Inverse Scattering Problems in Electrical Engineering – From Wave Speed Inversion in Transmission Lines to Electrical Properties Tomography of Tissue

In this talk we discuss two nonstandard inverse scattering solution methodologies. As is well known, inverse scattering problems are nonlinear and ill-posed and are typically formulated as optimization problems in which a certain objective function is minimized. In our first solution methodology, however, we present a direct physics-based solution method for transmission line/one-dimensional profile inversion problems that is not based on objective function minimization. Specifically, our solution method reconstructs the wave speed on a finite or semi-infinite interval/transmission line, based on impedance measurements carried out at one end of the line and on a frequency interval of interest. Under certain conditions, the method is guaranteed to converge and there is no risk of getting stuck in a local minimum of an objective function and ending up with suboptimal solutions. Nonuniqueness issues in case of a semi-infinite interval are also briefly discussed.   

Our second inverse scattering problem consists of retrieving the conductivity and permittivity values of different tissue types based standard magnetic resonance data. In particular, the data consists of a circularly polarized part of the radiofrequency magnetic field (the so-called B1+ field) that has its support inside the reconstruction domain. The considered tissue parameter retrieval problem is therefore nonstandard since data in inverse scattering usually has its support outside the reconstruction domain. Having the data available, our reconstruction method attempts to retrieve the dielectric tissue parameters using domain integral equation representations for the electromagnetic field in a nonlinear conjugate-gradient updating scheme. Several examples will illustrate the performance of the method and possible extensions of the method will be discussed as well. 

 

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Mastermarket

• Friday, 9 February 2024
• 15:30-18:00
• HB20.150

The MS3/ELCA Mastermarket

MS3/ELCA groups

Dear Students,

Get ready for a journey into the world of cutting-edge research in RF technology, radar & communication!

On February 9, we are organizing the MS3/ELCA Mastermarket. On this occasion we, the MS3 and ELCA sections, will inform you about the Master thesis opportunities in our groups, and demonstrate our research with actual measurements, presenting processed experimental results and showing the added value of this research for applications such as automotive radar, 5G/6G, health and well-being, weather and climate change. As RF systems for radars and communication are sources of huge data, we also demonstrate AI capabilities.

We're opening the doors to our measurement labs: the Earl McCune Labs (21^st floor), the anechoic chamber (22nd floor), the mm-wave radar lab (22nd floor), and the surveillance radars (23rd floor and roof).

Mark your calendars for 15:30, and meet us in room HB20.150.

We start with a few short presentations followed by the tour and then we will enjoy the pizza and discuss more!

Please send an email to EWI-ME-Secr@tudelft.nl to let us know you will join (and we can make sure there is enough pizza ;-))

 We look forward meeting you!
The MS3 & ELCA sections

THz Symposium

• Thursday, 25 -- Thursday, 25 January 2024
• 09:30-17:00
• Lecture Hall D@ta, 36.HB.01.630

Dutch Symposium on Terahertz Science and Technology - 3rd Edition

You are cordially invited to join us for the third edition of the Dutch Terahertz Symposium on January 25, 2024. It is a co-organized event between the Delft and Eindhoven University of Technology. With these series of symposiums, we aim to create an environment to exchange information and allow the Dutch Terahertz community to find collaborations and funding opportunities.

 

The 2024 Dutch Terahertz Symposium aims to bring together the Dutch research community and industry interested in the field of terahertz science and technology. There will be six featured talks from both academic and industrial institutions about the latest developments in the field. You can find the list of speakers and topics attached to this email. There will be plenty of opportunities for interaction with each other and inspired further community building.

 

Save the date to join a full day of interesting presentations, Q&As, and panel discussions!

Additional information ...

ME colloquium

• Thursday, 14 December 2023
• 15:30-16:30
• X, Body&Mind studio

Opening the THz band for astronomy

Jochem Baselmans

Opening the THz band for astronomy

In Astronomy new discoveries have always been a direct consequence of new instrumentation, which started with the invention of the telescope by Hans Lippershey in the Netherlands in 1608. Nowadays instrumentation exists across virtually the entire EM spectrum, from radio waves to gamma rays, but one frequency band remains poorly explored: The THz range. This is due to a combination of practical and technical difficulties. First, the atmosphere of the earth is largely opaque and requires telescopes on high and remote locations or space. Second, semiconductor technology is not well suited for the THz range: Amplifiers are too slow, and CCD’s or CMOS detectors have a too large band gap. Hence TU Delft and SRON develop superconducting detector technology to open up the THz window for astronomy. Our detectors are the world’s best and therefore we are the main detector supplier for the NASA FIR probe mission proposals, with the goal of launching the successor of the James Webb Space Telescope with TUD/SRON detectors 10 years from now. In the mean time we have three instruments with our detectors operating at this moment. The most important is Deshima 2.0, using our invention of the on-chip spectrometer as key element. This instrument is fully developed by the experimental astronomy group and operated at the ASTE telescope in Chile. I will discuss our technology, why it is so relevant and what we will try to achieve within the coming years.

Additional information ...

Microelectronics Colloquium

• Thursday, 23 November 2023
• 15:30-16:30
• EWI Snijderszaal (LB 1.010)

Neuromorphic On-Device Intelligence for Energy-Efficient AIoT

Chang Gao

In the swiftly advancing realm of Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT), the integration of edge smart devices and communication networks is becoming increasingly central to our digital infrastructure. In this context, the need for energy-efficient computing—characterized by low latency and low power consumption—is paramount, not only to enhance user experience across various AIoT applications but also to contribute to carbon neutrality. Neuromorphic computing emerges as a promising, sustainable solution, offering both efficiency and effectiveness. This presentation will delve into our recent research in neuromorphic computing, focusing on its application in speech recognition, eye tracking, and robotic control. Our work underscores the potential of neuromorphic technology to substantially reduce latency and energy consumption while managing complex tasks with negligible accuracy loss. In addition, we will delve into the application of AI for the correction of non-linearity in wideband RF power amplifiers, a critical aspect of advanced RF signal processing for emerging 6G and WiFi 7 technologies vital for connecting data-intensive AIoT devices in the future. By integrating neuromorphic computing, we aim to make AIoT devices more accessible, thereby enhancing the quality of life and fostering a sustainable, environmentally friendly future.

Additional information ...

Microelectronics Research Day 2023

• Thursday, 9 November 2023
• 09:30-17:30
• EEMCS

Microelectronics Research Day 2023

TU Delft Microelectronics Research Day
Fully booked!
Registering 2023 not for possible anymore

Additional information ...

EE-NL Day

• Wednesday, 8 November 2023
• 10:30-17:30
• EEMCS

EE-NL Day

EE-NL Day

Additional information ...

PhD Thesis Defence

• Wednesday, 27 September 2023
• 12:00-14:00
• Aula Senaatszaal

Pitch-Matched Integrated Transceiver Circuits for High-Resolution 3-D Neonatal Brain Monitoring

Peng Guo

Peng Guo will defend his PhD thesis entitled

Pitch-Matched Integrated Transceiver Circuits for High-Resolution 3-D Neonatal Brain Monitoring

on Wednesday, Sept. 27th. The layman's talk will be at 12:00, the defence starts at 12:30.

The thesis can be downloaded from the TU Delft repository. Peng's work was part of the MIFFY project.

Livestream of the defence: link

Promotors: Michiel Pertijs and Nico de Jong

Abstract: This thesis presents the design and implementation of integrated ultrasound transceivers for use in transfontanelle ultrasonography (TFUS). Two generations of ultrasound transceiver ASICs integrated with PZT transducer arrays intended for TFUS are presented. In the first generation, a novel AFE design that combines an LNA with the continuous TGC function is realized in a bid to mitigate the gain-switching and T/R switching artifacts. Besides, a new current-mode micro-beamforming design based on boxcar integration (BI) is also implemented to reduce the channel count within a compact layout. In the second generation, the AFE is derived from the first version, while the design focuses on RX backend circuitry and channel-count reduction, including a passive BI-based µBF merged with a charge-sharing SAR ADC, which digitizes the delayed-and-summed signals, and a subsequent multi-level data link, which concatenates outputs of four ADCs. In total, a 128-fold reduction in channel count is finally achieved. The techniques we developed have established the groundwork and removed the initial barriers for an electronics architecture suitable for a wearable 3D TFUS device.

Symposium

• Friday, 21 April 2023
• 09:00-18:00
• EEMCS - Lecture Hall Chip

Heterogeneous system integration - Driving the EU Chip Act ambitions

The Netherlands have a strong national ecosystem for quantum, photohics and semiconductor technologies, well connected to international key players. This symposium aims to build on this strength by intensifying collaboration among these domains.

Heterogeneous integration plays a crucial role in enabling future quantum, photonics and semiconductor technologies by creating new functionalities and business opportunities through the integration of different chips, technologies and materials into a single system.

This symposium will discuss the importance of heterogeneous integration and its potential for creating more industry and business value. It also aims to cultivate human resources for heterogeneous integration, further strengthening the Dutch ecosystem.

Join us to explore the exciting opportunities that heterogenous system integration can offer for the Dutch ecosystem and beyond, and to be part of the conversation on driving the EU Chip Act ambitions.

ME colloquium

• Thursday, 20 April 2023
• 15:30-16:30
• EEMCS (B36) lecture hall D@ta

A Classical Electromagnetic Model for Thermal Emission from Ohmic Media

Andrea Neto

For seventy years  Rytov’s currents have been the tool to introduce Plank’s quantum hypothesis in modern radiometry. However, these currents are affected by the important unjustified assumption of being uncorrelated among each other for any distance different from zero. At a close look, the demonstrations provided by Rytov, or by Landau around the same time, are less than water proof. Here, resorting to a rigorous Electromagnetic analysis we propose an expansion for the electromagnetic fields in homogeneous media in terms of orthogonal eigen-vectors of Maxwell’s equations. The estimation of the elecromagnetic energy associated to each of the eigen modes used in the field expansion is then obtained by introducing Johnson like thermal sources. The observation of the mutual coupling between the proposed eigen-modes reveals that only a few of the modes possible should be retained as independent. This information provides the EM energy thermally generated per unit of volume. Incidentally, a high frequency cut off in thermal energy is found to be dependent from the conductivity and the related scattering time, rather than Planck’s law.

Additional information ...

PhD Thesis Defence

• Friday, 3 March 2023
• 09:30-12:00
• Aula Senaatszaal

Yannick Hopf - PhD Defence

Yannick Hopf

Dear Colleagues and Friends,

 

It is my pleasure to invite you to the defense of my PhD entitled:

Integrated Circuits for 3D High-Frame-Rate Intracardiac Echocardiography Probes

 

The event will take place in the Senaatszaal/Aula on Friday, 3^rd March 2023 and the schedule is as follows:

• 09:30 – Layman’s Talk
• 10:00 – Defense
• 11:30 – Reception

 

A link for online participation will be shared once provided by the Graduate School.

The thesis can be accessed via:

https://doi.org/10.4233/uuid:7016e74d-c7df-42a8-8257-11326940ad7f

 

While this marks the end of my PhD project at TU Delft, I will still be around as a postdoc until mid April.

So while I would already like to thank you for all the support and good times, this is not a farewell yet and I’m looking forward to my remaining time in the team!

 

Best regards,

Yannick

Additional information ...

Microelectronics Colloquium

• Thursday, 27 October 2022
• 15:30-16:30
• LB 1.010 Snijderszaal

Advances in Low-Field MRI Hardware Design and Data Processing

Rob Remis

In this talk we discuss several recent advances in low-field Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). We focus on magnet and gradient coil design for a low-field MR scanner in which the strong background field is generated by permanent magnets (Halbach systems). These design problems are treated as inverse source problems, which are severely ill-posed in general. How to obtain approximate (regularized) solutions to these problems is discussed and the practical implementation of these solutions is addressed as well. Several processing algorithms that can handle compressed noisy MR input data are also presented and we illustrate the performance of these algorithms on simulated and measured low-field MR data.

Additional information ...

Microelectronics Colloquium

• Thursday, 22 September 2022
• 15:30-16:30
• TBD

Sparsity-constrained Linear Dynamical Systems

Geethu Joseph

Abstract: At the intersection of control engineering and signal processing sits the upcoming field of sparse control and state estimation of linear dynamical systems. It deals with linear dynamical systems with control inputs having a few nonzero entries compared to their dimensions. Constraining the inputs to be sparse is often necessary to select a small subset of the available sensors or actuators at each time instant due to energy, bandwidth, or physical network constraints. Bringing together research from classical control theory and compressed sensing, the talk presents a comprehensive overview and critical insights into the conceptual foundations of sparsity-constrained systems, including the formulation, theory, and algorithms. We look at the concrete example of a budget-constrained external agent controlling the opinion of a social network.

Additional information ...

PhD Thesis Defence

• Thursday, 15 September 2022
• 12:00-13:30
• Aula Senaatszaal

Advanced Measurement Techniques and Circuits for Array-Based Transit-Time Ultrasonic Flow Meters

Douwe van Willigen

This thesis describes the design, prototyping and evaluation of matrix-based clamp-on ultrasonic flow meters. Several new measurement techniques are presented as well as an Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) designed for accurate measurement of flow velocity with matrix transducers.

The influence of circuit topologies on the zero-flow performance of ultrasonic flow meters has been analyzed and an algorithm is presented to reduce the offset. With a linear transducer array, flow measurements have been performed via two different acoustic paths, demonstrating the ability to accurately measure flow with array transducers through a stainless-steel pipe wall. In order to improve signal quality, an ASIC has been designed that is able to drive and read-out 96 piezo transducer elements. The ASIC has been characterized electrically and flow measurements have been performed in combination with the linear transducer arrays.

Several new techniques, enabled using transducer arrays, have also been explored. By tapering the amplitude of the transmit signals, spurious waves can be suppressed. An auto-calibration technique has been developed that uses additional acoustic measurements to estimate the diameter of the pipe and the speed of sound in the pipe wall and liquid. Finally, a simulation study has been performed to explore the possibility of exploiting the beam-steering capabilities of transducer arrays to measure flow velocity profiles by using measurements obtained via multiple acoustic paths.

Thesis:
https://doi.org/10.4233/uuid:e2f4b411-3d8e-4b93-b037-096009c59f61

Collegerama (live stream of the defence):
https://collegerama.tudelft.nl/mediasite/play/571eb84f3e724d47b46df7e8d0eb3a7a1d

Additional information ...

PhD Thesis Defence

• Tuesday, 13 September 2022
• 12:00-13:30
• Aula Senaatszaal

Integrated Transceiver Circuits for Catheter-based Ultrasound Probes and Wearable Ultrasound Patches

Mingliang Tan

Promotors: Michiel Pertijs and Ronald Dekker

Thesis: link

Collegerama link (live stream of the defence): link

Abstract: This thesis describes the design, prototyping, and experimental evaluation of transceiver ASICs (application-specific integrated circuits) for catheter-based ultrasound probes and wearable ultrasound patches. Various circuit techniques are proposed to address requirements and implementation bottlenecks in these applications. Prototype chips are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of these techniques. To reduce the loading effect of micro-coaxial cables in an ICE probe based on capacitive micro-machined ultrasound transducers (CMUTs), an ASIC prototype including element-level high-voltage pulses and low-noise trans-impedance amplifiers has been implemented. Besides reducing the loading effect from micro-coaxial cables, ASICs play an important role in achieving cable-count reduction, which is crucial for 3-D imaging catheters, such as forward-looking IVUS probes. Circuit techniques are proposed to implement a prototype ASIC which only requires 4 cables to interface with a 2D piezoelectric transducer array. Additionally, to address the challenges in interface electronics for wearable ultrasound patches, a prototype ASIC is presented that contains 64 reconfigurable transceiver channels that can interface with different transducer elements by employing channel-parallelizing techniques.

Additional information ...

Special EI Colloquium

• Tuesday, 13 September 2022
• 10:00-11:00
• EWI - Lecture Hall F

Piero Tortoli, Michael Kraft

Real-time High-Frame Rate imaging: Novel Methods and Applications

Prof. Piero Tortoli
Microelectronics Systems Design Laboratory
University of Florence, Italy

Medical imaging is increasingly based on High-Frame-Rate (HFR) methods, which are in principle capable of producing one frame (or even one data volume) per transmission event. However, achieving such a goal in real-time implicitly involves the transfer and processing of huge amount of data at high rates, and this can be done only through an appropriate experimental setup.

In this talk, the main characteristics of the hardware-based open scanner ULA-OP 256 are briefly reviewed, and its recent advancements, such as the data transfer acceleration obtained through an architectural change, and the possible expansion toward the control of an unlimited number of probe elements, are reported in detail. The “virtual real-time” modality will also be described as ideal to obtain the best performance from specific HFR imaging modalities. Finally, the combination of ULA-OP 256 with properly designed sparse 2-D arrays will be shown suitable for the investigation of full volumes. The talk will be concluded with the presentation of experimental results in a few sample applications, including multi-plane imaging, HFR CFM and HFR vector Doppler.

 

Micro- and Nanosystems at ESAT, KU Leuven

Prof. Michael Kraft
ESAT, Micro- and Nano-Systems
KU Leuven, Belgium

This seminar will give an brief overview of the activities in micro- and nanosystems at the Electrical Engineering Department (ESAT) of KU Leuven. It will describe the available infrastructure and give a short overview of current research activities in the division Micro- and Nanosystems (MNS), which currently comprises 24 PhD students, 4 postdoctoral researchers and 2 technicians.

A selection of current active projects and recent highlights will be presented, including work on:

• Coupled resonators for mass sensing applications
• Piezoelectric ultrasound technology arrays for medical imaging and underwater communication
• Micromachined probes for neuro recording and stimulation
• Multi-parameter sensing chip for bioreactor condition monitoring
• Genetic Algorithm for the design of MEMS devices (accelerometers and microgrippers)

Finally, the newly founded Leuven Institute for Micro- and Nano Integration (LIMNI) will be briefly introduced.

Note: This Colloquium precedes the PhD defence of Mingliang Tan, which will take place in the Aula on the same day at 12:00 (layman’s talk), 12:30-13:30 (defence). More information can be found here.

Sensors and CMOS Interface Electronics

• Monday, 9 -- Friday, 20 May 2022

Would you like to learn about smart sensors and interface circuits? Register for our course “Sensors and CMOS Interface Electronics”, co-organized by TU Delft and MEAD Education.

The course will take place online, on 8 days between May 9 and May 20, with two lectures per day timed conveniently for participation from anywhere on the globe.

Topics include smart-sensor design, calibration techniques, references, offset-cancellation, analog-to-digital conversion, instrumentation amplifiers and energy harvesting. Moreover, the course features lectures by experts in the field dedicated to smart inertial sensors, magnetic sensors, temperature sensors, image sensors, ultrasonic sensors, capacitive sensors, implantable medical devices and DNA microarrays.

Microelectronics Colloquium

• Thursday, 24 February 2022
• 16:30-05:00
• Online via TEAMS

An inclusive EEMCS faculty: An emphatic approach.

Jorge Martinez

Our faculty consists of a vibrant and diverse community. Diversity is a catalyst that allows us to achieve broad knowledge, and a base upon we can drive scientific innovation and improve education.

Moreover, diversity is one of the core values of TUDelft and our faculty and comes with great responsibility. Without equality and inclusion diversity becomes an empty gesture. But realising a safe, equal and inclusive environment requires the participation of everyone in our community. It starts by having a dialog, stablish communication channels at different levels, and debunking taboos with respect to the visible and invisible differences among each other and our students. An empathic approach for this process can play a key role in realising this ambition.

In this colloquium Jorge talks about his experience within EDIT: EEMCS Diversity & Inclusion Team. Join us to know more about EDIT, and for an informal discussion on the current advancements on addressing issues like harassment, discrimination, and gender (in)equality. Or if you want to know what are the channels and means within our faculty and our University to reach for advice or help in case you encounter any issues related to these important topics.

Additional information ...

ME colloquium

• Thursday, 27 January 2022
• 15:30-04:30
• Online via TEAMS

The early Universe in sub-mm: from blobs to high-res, from monochrome images to spectral surveys

Matus Rybak

The most dramatic chapters in the history of the Universe are the first few billion years after the Big Bang. Half of all stars formed in this epoch, mainly in gigantic, dust-enshrouded galaxies. However, these dusty giants are very challenging to observe - their copious dust renders them invisible to optical telescopes but bright in sub-mm, where spatial resolution, sensitivity, and instantaneous bandwidth remain limited.

I will showcase how rapid advances in mm-wave technology have helped dissect dusty galaxies in unprecedented detail and complexity. In half a decade, we went from studying barely resolved blobs to scales of individual gas clouds. Still, these high-resolution observations are limited to a few dozen of galaxies. The challenge for the 2020s and '30s is to push the population-scale studies by moving from monochrome surveys to ultra-wideband spectroscopy of thousands of galaxies, culminating in surveys with the planned 50-m AtLAST telescope in Chile.

Link;  Click here to join the meeting

Additional information ...

Microelectronics Colloquium

• Thursday, 28 October 2021
• 15:30-16:30
• Microsoft Teams Meeting

On my personal journey into artificial intelligence

Justin Dauwels

In this presentation, I will start with a brief introduction to artificial intelligence (AI). I will then elaborate on two types of AI approaches that our research team is investigating: graphical models and neural networks. Next I will summarize some of the main research results of our group. I will review some of the applications of AI that we have been working on over the years, and will present some of our future research plans. I will also say a few words about the spin-off companies that have emerged from our research group. At last, I will conclude with a few thoughts on the potential impact of AI on society and will formulate a few important open research questions in the field of AI.

Additional information ...

PhD Thesis Defence

• Monday, 13 September 2021
• 14:30
• Aula Senaatszaal

In-pixel temperature sensors for dark current compensation of a CMOS image sensor

Accel Abarca Prouza

This thesis describes the integration of temperature sensors into a CMOS image sensor (CIS). The temperature sensors provide the in-situ temperature of the pixels as well as the thermal distribution of the pixel array. The temperature and the thermal distribution are intended to be used to compensate for dark current affecting the CIS. Two different types of in-pixel temperature sensors have been explored. The first type of temperature sensor is based on a substrate parasitic bipolar junction transistor (BJT). The second type of temperature sensor that has been explored is based on the nMOS source follower (SF) transistor of the same pixel. The readout system that is used for the temperature sensors and for the image pixels is based on low noise column amplifiers. Both types of in-pixel temperature sensors (IPTS) have been designed implementing different techniques to improve their accuracy. The use of the IPTSs has been proved by measuring three prototypes chips. Also, a novel technique to compensate for the dark current of a CIS by using the IPTS has been proposed.

For those who cannot attend, you can follow it by using this link:
https://collegerama.tudelft.nl/mediasite/play/84dc9775142d44db81aa38e5532c67ca1d

MSc SS Thesis Presentation

• Thursday, 17 June 2021
• 09:00-09:45
• zoom

SPLITTER

Stefanie Brackenhoff

A data model and algorithm for detecting spectral lines and continuum emission of highredshift galaxies using DESHIMA 2.0

ME colloquium

• Thursday, 27 May 2021
• 15:30-17:00
• Online via TEAMS

On the development of Submillimeter-wave Heterodyne Instruments for Space Exploration

Maria Alonso-delPino

Over the past several decades, the primary driver for the development of terahertz imaging systems has been astronomy, Earth, and planetary sciences. The main challenges these instruments face are a limited sensitivity, and a strict power, mass, and volume budget, which is even more challenging for multi-pixel and beam-steering architectures. Over the last 5 years as a researcher at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory - NASA, my focus has been the advancement of state-of-the-art instrumentation to improve and enable new capabilities for imaging systems at millimeter and submillimeter-wave bands. In this talk, I will present the current challenges that heterodyne instruments face at submillimeter wavelengths and how the combination of silicon micromachining technologies with novel antenna front-end architectures has opened the path to a new era for heterodyne instruments. Now at TUDelft, I am continuing to build this knowledge and capabilities to new emerging communication applications.

Register by sending an email to secr-me-ewi@tudelft.nl

Additional information ...

Ph.D. Thesis Defense of Sining Pan

• Monday, 12 April 2021
• 12:00-13:30

Resistor-based temperature sensors in CMOS technology

Sining Pan

Time: Monday, 12 April 2021, 12:00-12:15 (layman’s talk), 12:30-13:30 (defense)

Abstract: This thesis describes the principle and design of an emerging type of CMOS temperature sensors based on the temperature dependency of on-chip resistors. Compared to traditional BJT-based designs, resistor-based sensors have higher energy-efficiency, better scalability, and can operate under a wider supply range. Nine design examples are shown in this thesis to demonstrate how resistor-based sensors can be optimized for accuracy, energy-efficiency, or other application-driven specifications. Among all the records the designs achieved, the energy-efficiency improvement is the most impressive: 65× better than state-of-the-art before this research, or only 6× away from the theoretical value.

Please feel welcome to join the live stream: http://collegerama.tudelft.nl/mediasite/play/be505395bbf24debb7cf8fd61454a5261d

Thesis: https://doi.org/10.4233/uuid:28108302-2d9b-4560-a806-8ba6d381812e

Additional information ...

CAS MSc Midterm Presentations

• Thursday, 14 January 2021
• 11:30-12:30
• https://tudelft.zoom.us/j/99529802347

Wideband astronomical spectroscopy in high contrast

Stefanie Brackenhoff, Elke Salzmann

PhD Thesis Defence

• Monday, 21 December 2020
• 14:30-16:00

Integrated Circuits for Miniature 3-D Ultrasound Probes: Solutions for the Interconnection Bottleneck

Zhao Chen

14:30-15:00 (layman’s talk), 15:00-16:00 (defence)

Please feel welcome to join the live stream

Promotors: Michiel Pertijs and Nico de Jong

Abstract: This thesis describes low-power application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) designs to mitigate the constraint of cable count in miniature 3-D TEE probes. Receive cable-count reduction techniques including subarray beamforming and digital time-division multiplexing (TDM) have been explored and the effectiveness of these techniques has been demonstrated by experimental prototypes. Digital TDM is a reliable technique to reduce cable count, but it requires an in-probe datalink for high-speed data communication. A quantitative study on the impact of the datalink performance on B-mode ultrasound image quality has been introduced in this thesis for data communication in future digitized ultrasound probes. Finally, a high-voltage transmitter prototype has been presented for effective cable-count reduction in transmission while achieving good power efficiency. The application of these techniques is not limited to only the design of TEE probes and can be easily extended to the design of other miniature 3-D ultrasound probes, for instance intracardiac echocardiography (ICE) probes and IVUS probes, which are facing similar interconnect challenges with an increased number of transducer elements to enhance imaging quality.

Additional information ...

Microelectronics Colloquium

• Thursday, 29 October 2020
• 15:30-16:30
• Online

Artificial Retina: A Future Cellular-Resolution Brain-Machine Interface

Dante Muratore

A healthy retina transduces incoming visual stimuli into patterns of neural activity, which are then transmitted to the brain via the optic nerve. Degenerative diseases, like macular degeneration or retinitis pigmentosa, destroy the ability of the retina to transduce light, causing profound blindness. An artificial retina is a device that replaces the function of retinal circuitry lost to disease. Present-day devices can elicit visual percepts in patients, providing a proof of concept. However, the patterns of neural activity they produce are far from natural, and the visual sensations experienced by patients are coarse and of limited use to patients.

A main hurdle is that there are many types of cells in the retina. For example, some cells respond to increases of light intensity, while other cells respond to decreases of light intensity. In order to reproduce a meaningful neural code, it is crucial to respect the specificity and selectivity of these cells. Because cells of different types are intermixed in the circuitry of the retina, cell type specific activation of this kind requires that a future artificial retina be able to stimulate at single cell resolution, over a significant area in the central retina.

To achieve this goal, we are designing an epi-retinal interface that operates in two modes: calibration and runtime. During calibration, the interface learns which cells and which cell types are available for stimulation, by recording neural activity from the retina. During runtime, the interface stimulates the available cells to best approximate the desired scene. I will present a system architecture we are developing that can accomplish the overall performance goals, and the implications of this architecture for brain-machine interfaces.

Additional information ...

MSc TC Thesis Presentation

• Friday, 28 August 2020
• 09:30-10:30
• https://tudelft.zoom.us/j/93624431107

Radar-based vital sign detection and indoor target localization algorithm development

Lin Wan
IMEC, Eindhoven.

The work is on radar-based vital sign detection and indoor target localization.

Additional information ...

MSc TC Thesis Presentation

• Thursday, 27 August 2020
• 09:00-10:00
• https://tudelft.zoom.us/j/92123895288?pwd=NnlKaGZNbE83S2U1Q0ZqZElOWmZRUT09

Computationally Efficient Conical Horn Antenna Design

Tworit Dash
ASTRON

Additional information ...

PhD Thesis Defence

• Wednesday, 26 August 2020
• 14:30-16:30
• Aula Senaatszaal

Antenna Array Synthesis and Beamforming for 5G Applications: An Interdisciplinary Approach

Yanki Aslan

Realization of the future 5G systems requires the design of novel mm-wave base station antenna systems that are capable of generating multiple beams with low mutual interference, while serving multiple users simultaneously using the same frequency band. Besides, small wavelengths and high packaging densities of front-ends lead to overheating of such systems, which prevents safe and reliable operation. Since the strict cost and energy requirements of the first phase 5G systems favor the use of low complexity beamforming architectures, computationally efficient signal processing techniques and fully passive cooling strategies, it is a major challenge for the antenna community to design multibeam antenna topologies and front-ends with enhanced spatial multiplexing, limited inter-beam interference, acceptable implementation complexity, suitable processing burden, and natural-only/radiative cooling.Traditionally, array design has been performed based on satisfying the given criteria solely on the radiation patterns (gain, side lobe level (SLL), beamwidth etc.). However, in addition to the electromagnetic aspects, multi-beam antenna synthesis and performance evaluation in 5G systems at mm-waves must combine different disciplines, including but not limited to, signal processing, front-end circuitry design, thermal management, channel & propagation, and medium access control aspects. Considering the interdisciplinary nature of the problem, the main objective of this research is to develop, evaluate and verify innovative multibeam array techniques and solutions for 5G base station antennas, not yet used nor proposed for mobile communications. The research topics include the investigation of (i) new array topologies, compatible with IC passive cooling, including sparse, space tapered arrays and optimized subarrays, meeting key requirements of 3-D multi-user coverage with frequency re-use and power-efficient side-lobe control, (ii) adaptive multiple beamforming strategies and digital signal processing algorithms, tailored to these new topologies, and (iii) lowcost/competitive and sufficiently generic implementation of the above array topologies and multi-beam generation concepts to serve multiple users with the same antenna(s) with the best spectrum and power efficiencies. This doctoral thesis consists of three parts. Part I focuses on the system-driven aspects which cover the system modeling (including the link budget and precoding), propagation in mm-wave channels and statistical assessment of the Quality of Service (QoS). Although separate comprehensive studies exist both in the field of propagation/system modeling and antennas/beamforming, the link between the two disciplines is still weak. In this part, the aim of the study is to bridge the gap between the two domains and to identify the trade-offs between the complexity of beamforming, the QoS, and the computational cost of precoding in the 5G multi-beam base station arrays for various use cases. Based on the system model developed, a novel quantitative relation between the antenna SLLs/pattern nulls and the statistical QoS is established in a line-of-sight (LoS) dominated mm-wave propagation scenario. Moreover, the potential of using smart (low in-sector side-lobe) array layouts (with simple beam steering) in obtaining sufficiently high and robust QoS, while achieving the optimally low processing costs is highlighted. For a possible pure non-line-of-sight (NLoS) scenario, the system advantages (in terms of the beamforming complexity and the interference level) of creating a single, directive beam towards the strongest multipath component of a user are explained via ray-tracing based propagation simulations. The insightful system observations from Part I lead to several fundamental research questions: Could we simplify the multiple beamforming architecture while keeping a satisfying QoS? Are there any efficient yet effective alternative interference suppression methods to further improve the QoS? How should we deal with the large heat generation at the base station? These questions, together with the research objectives, form the basis for the studies performed in the remaining parts. Part II of the thesis focuses on the electromagnetism-driven aspects which include innovative, low-complexity subarray based multibeam architectures and new array optimization strategies for effective SLL suppression. The currently proposed multi-beam 5G base stations in the literature for beamforming complexity reduction use either a hybrid array of phased subarrays, which limits the field-of-view significantly, or employ a fully-connected analog structure, which increases the hardware requirements remarkably. Therefore, in the first half of this part, the aim is to design low-complexity hybrid (or hybrid-like) multiple beamforming topologies with a wide angular coverage. For this purpose, two new subarray based multiple beamforming concepts are proposed: (i) a hybrid array of active multiport subarrays with several digitally controlled Butler Matrix beams and (ii) an array of cosecant subarrays with a fixed cosecant shaped beam in elevation and digital beamforming in azimuth. Using the active (but not phased) multiport subarrays, the angular sector coverage is widened as compared to that of a hybrid array of phased subarrays, the system complexity is decreased as compared to that of a hybrid structure with a fully-connected analog network, and the effort in digital signal processing is reduced greatly. The cosecant subarray beamforming, on the other hand, is shown to be extremely efficient in serving multiple simultaneous co-frequency users in the case of a fairness-motivated LoS communication thanks to its low complexity and power equalization capability. Another critical issue with the currently proposed 5G antennas is the large inter-user interference caused by the high average SLL of the regular, periodic arrays. Therefore, in the second half of Part II, the aim is to develop computationally and power-efficient SLL suppression techniques that are compatible with the 5G’s multibeam nature in a wide angular sector. To achieve this, two novel techniques (based on iterative parameter perturbations) are proposed: (i) a phase-only control technique and (ii) a position-only control technique. The phase-only technique provides peak SLL minimization and simultaneous pattern nulling, which is more effective than the available phase tapering methods in the literature. The position-only technique, on the other hand, yields uniform-amplitude, (fully-aperiodic and quasi-modular) irregular planar phased arrays with simultaneous multibeam optimization. The latter technique combines interference-awareness (via multibeam SLL minimization in a predefined cell sector) and thermal-awareness (via uniform amplitudes and minimum element spacing constraint) for the first time in an efficient and easy-to-solve optimization algorithm. Part III of the thesis concentrates on the thermal-driven aspects which cover the thermal system modeling of electronics, passive cooling at the base stations, and the role of antenna researchers in array cooling. The major aim here is to form a novel connection between the antenna system design and thermal management, which is not yet widely discussed in the literature. In this part, an efficient thermal system model is developed to perform the thermal simulations. To effectively address the challenge of thermal management at the base stations, fanless CPU heatsinks are exploited for the first time for fully-passive and low-cost cooling of the active integrated antennas. To reduce the size of the heatsinks and ease the thermal problem, novel planar antenna design methodologies are also proposed. In the case of having a low thermal conductivity board, using a sparse irregular antenna array with a large inter-element spacing (such as a sunflower array) is suggested. Alternatively, for the densely packed arrays, increasing the equivalent substrate conductivity by using thick ground planes and simultaneously enlarging the substrate dimensions is proven to be useful. The performed research presents the first-ever irregular/sparse and subarray based antennas with wide scan multi-beam capability, low temperature, high-efficiency power amplifiers, and low level of side lobes. The developed antenna arrays and beam generation concepts could have also an impact over a broad range of applications where they should help overcome the capacity problem by use of multiple adaptive antennas, improve reliability and reduce interference.

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MSc TC Thesis Presentation

• Friday, 21 August 2020
• 09:00-10:00

Vital Signs Monitoring Using Doppler Signal Decomposition

Yuqing Li

There is an ever-growing demand for vital signs monitoring for a variety of occasions. Non-contact vital signs monitoring can be achieved by detecting the displacement of the human chest using Doppler radar. This method is non-invasive, environment-independent, and suitable for long-term monitoring. However, the real-time detection of cardiopulmonary parameters extraction with radar needs to address the challenges of the limited time duration of the signal for the extraction of cardiopulmonary signals, accuracy of vital signs parameters estimation, and signal processing algorithm complexity. Here we show that empirical and variational signal decomposition methods can be performed to extract respiration and heartbeat signals in the radar system. Hilbert-Huang transform is applied in conjunction with the signal decomposition methods to display the time-frequency-energy distribution of decomposed signals, thus the instantaneous frequencies and amplitudes of vital signs can be obtained. Besides, online signal decomposition approaches are illustrated to achieve the dynamic estimation of vital signs from the radar data stream. The results of our experimental verification demonstrate that Online-VMD has an accuracy of 99.56% and a variance of estimated frequencies of 1.81 x 10⁻³ when it is applied in FMCW radar system, providing a reliable, accurate and real-time parameter estimation results in vital signs monitoring.

SSCS WYE Webinar

• Friday, 7 -- Friday, 7 August 2020
• 17:00-18:00

To Academia, or to Industry, That is the Question.

Kofi Makinwa, Shin-Lien Lu

Abstract:

You are about to finish graduate school or perhaps a young or seasoned professional, contemplating a career transition. Which is better - a career in academia or industry? What are the pros and cons of one versus the other? How can you start exploring and build up your career accordingly? In this webinar, we will interview Dr. Linus Lu, a professor-turned-industry veteran, and Prof. Kofi Makinwa, an industry veteran-turned-professor, who will share their insights and perspectives from their personal journeys in both academia and industry careers. They will also address what triggered their transitions, how they staged their transitions, and offer their crystal ball projections on present and future career prospects in the solid-state-circuits profession.

REGISTER TODAY!

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PhD Thesis Defence

• Friday, 17 January 2020
• Aula Senaatszaal

3D Elements for Phased-Array Systems: Analysis and Design.

Cristina Yepes

In recent years, radar systems and satellite communications require phased array antennas that are capable of incorporating frequency and angular selectivity while maintaining a low profile. Active phased array antennas must comply with stringent requirements in terms of sensitivity to interference caused by other nearby radiating systems, especially in complex platforms, where a multitude of sensors and radiating systems need to co-exist. In such environments, antennas working at different frequencies can interfere with each other and the implementation of frequency filtering functions with a good out-of-band rejection are needed. Moreover, the interference between different systems can be mitigated by reducing the radiation in the direct path between them. For this purpose, angular filtering functions for pattern shaping can be beneficial. However, standard planar printed circuit board technology puts constraints on the possible antenna elements that can be realized to achieve frequency and angular selectivity. Thus, using new methods such as additive manufacturing technology and 3D printing can provide more degrees of freedom to fabricate complex geometries with a desired operation.

For these reasons, this work focuses on studying new solutions for frequency selectivity with rejection of higher order harmonics, developing a spectral method of moment to study antennas to achieve angular shaping and finding the guidelines needed to design such antennas, and testing additive manufacturing technology to find its suitability at high frequencies for phased array antennas. A bandpass miniaturize-element frequency selective surface with harmonic rejection properties has been designed and manufactured. The design is based on an equivalent circuit model, taking a 3-pole Chebyshev bandpass filter as a starting point, where the inter-layer interaction is only described with a single transmission line representing the fundamental Floquet wave. The prototype consists of five metallic layers, interdigitated patches and grids, separated by dielectric slabs and exhibiting good stability over a wide conical incidence range. A practical case to estimate the effects of placing the FSS in the proximity of a wide-scanning wideband connected array of dipoles has been performed. The performance of the array combined with the FSS has been experimentally characterized, defining the optimal distance between FSS and array to avoid the propagation of surface waves between both structures, showing a good response within the FSS bandwidth and a good frequency rejection outside of this bandwidth.

A spectral method of moments for tilted elements in free space and in the presence of a backing reflector for infinite and finite arrays has been derived. Such method allows to study dipole and stacked dipole elements and find the guidelines needed to design, in a future, a phased array antenna with an undesired angular range where suppression of gain is intended. The parametric study concluded that the main parameters that shapes the pattern are the inter-element distance between elements and the tilt angle of the elements. The requirements to achieve an asymmetric radiation pattern are a directive element and an inter-elements distance higher than half wavelength, while the tilt of the elements allows to shape the gain levels in the suppressed angular region. To validate this study a linear arrays consisting of tilted dipoles loaded with artificial dielectric layers has been fabricated. The prototype shows a good comparison with simulations and measurements.

A simple design of a dipole antenna has been derived and fabricated using Stereolithography process as an additive manufacturing method. The polymer and metal paste used in the process have been characterized and results have been discussed. A good agreement between simulations and measurements has been achieved after including the geometric deviations found in the fabricated antenna. The fabrication process for high frequencies appears to be prone to systematic errors and the challenges related to the use of additive manufacturing technology for high frequency RF antennas and components has been discussed.

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PhD Thesis Defence

• Tuesday, 19 November 2019
• 14:30
• Aula Senaatszaal

Capacitively-Coupled Bridge Readout Circuits

Hui Jiang

This Ph.D. dissertation describes the design and realization of energy efficient readout integrated circuits (ROICs), that have an input referred noise density < 5 nV/√Hz and a linearity of < 30 ppm, as required by Wheatstone bridge sensors used in precision mechatronic systems. Novel techniques were developed, at both the system-level and circuit-level, to improve the ROIC’s energy-efficiency, while preserving its stability and precision. Two prototypes are presented, each with best-in-class energy efficiency, to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed techniques.

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PhD Thesis Defence

• Monday, 11 November 2019
• 12:00-14:30
• Aula Senaatszaal

High-Speed Interfaces for Capacitive Displacement Sensor

Sha Xia

This thesis describes the theory, design, and implementation of high-speed capacitive displacement sensor interface circuits. The intended application is to readout the capacitive displacement sensor used in a servo loop, where the measurement time needs to be low to ensure loop stability. The work employs baseline-capacitance cancellation technique to reach a high energy-efficiency and high conversion speed.

Colloquium

• Friday, 25 October 2019
• 15:00-16:00
• room D@ta | EEMCS (EWI) building, ground floor

The quantum supremacy experiment

Dr. Rami Barends
Google

Quantum supremacy, as originally defined by John Preskill, is "the day when well-controlled quantum systems can perform tasks surpassing what can be done in the classical world". I will discuss the challenges posed in performing a well-defined computational task on a programmable superconducting quantum processor, where the cost of doing the same task on a classical computer would be prohibitively higher.

MS3 seminar

• Wednesday, 16 October 2019
• 15:30-18:00
• Snijderzaal

Ultra Wide Band Surveillance Radar

Dr. Mark E. Davis, IEEE Fellow, IEEE Distinguished Lecturer
IEEE

Ultra Wide Band Surveillance Radar is an emerging technology for detecting and characterizing targets and cultural features for military and geosciences applications. It is essential to have fine range and cross-range resolution to characterize objects near and under severe clutter. This lecture will provide an in-depth look into:

• The early history of battlefield surveillance radar
• UWB phased array antenna
• UWB Synthetic aperture radar (SAR)
• UWB ground moving target indication
• New research in multi-node ultra wind band radar

Lecturer Biography: Dr Mark E Davis has over 50 years’ experience in Radar technology and systems development. He has held senior management positions in the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Air Force Research Laboratory, and General Electric Aerospace. At DARPA, he was the program manager on both the foliage penetration (FOPEN) radar advanced development program and the GeoSAR foliage penetration mapping radar.

His education includes a PhD in Physics from The Ohio State University, and Bachelor and Master’s Degrees in Electrical Engineering from Syracuse University. He is a Life Fellow of both the IEEE and Military Sensing Symposia, and a member of IEEE Aerospace Electronics Systems Society Board of Governors, VP Conferences, and past-Chair the Radar Systems Panel. He is the 2011 recipient of the AESS Warren D White Award for Excellence in Radar Engineering, and the 2018 IEEE Dennis J. Pickard Medal for Radar Technologies and Applications.

Signal Processing Seminar

• Thursday, 3 October 2019
• 13:30-14:30
• HB 17.150

A Data Scientific Approach to Efficient Submillimeter Astronomical Spectroscopy

Akio Taniguchi
Nagoya University, Japan

Astronomical data have become huge, as a result of recent advances in wide-field and wide-band instruments. To efficiently extract astronomical signals from observations using these instruments, data scientific approaches are essential. In the (sub)millimeter waveband, spectroscopy with ground-based single-dish telescopes is the best method for surveying interstellar molecules and atoms. However, such observations are not efficient yet, because they always suffer from the intense and time-varying atmosphere of the Earth.

In this talk, I present a statistical method to remove the atmospheric emission from a large spectroscopic dataset by using its intrinsic frequency correlation or spectral shape. As an application, I introduce a recent development of frequency modulation (FM) spectroscopy, which is three times more efficient than a conventional method [1]. As a collaboration with TU Delft, I introduce another application of spectral-cleaning for an ultra-wide-band (UWB) spectrometer DESHIMA [2]. Grasping the UWB atmospheric characteristics by using our data analysis software [3], it removes atmospheric effects on an astronomical spectrum much better than a conventional method.

[1] Akio Taniguchi, Yoichi Tamura et al., "A new off-point-less observing method for millimeter and submillimeter spectroscopy with a frequency-modulating local oscillator (FMLO)", submitted to Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan (2019)
[2] Akira Endo, Kenichi Karatsu, Yoichi Tamura, Tai Oshima, Akio Taniguchi, ..., Jochem J. A. Baselmans, "First light demonstration of the integrated superconducting spectrometer", Nature Astronomy (2019), Advanced Online Publication https://rdcu.be/bM2FN
[3] Akio Taniguchi, Tsuyoshi Ishida, "De:code - DESHIMA code for data analysis", DOI 10.5281/zenodo.3384216

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Master thesis defence

• Monday, 26 August 2019
• 11:00

Multiple-input Multiple-output Grating Lobe Selection Scheme for Radar Applications

Nick Cancrinus

MSc TC Thesis Presentation

• Thursday, 11 July 2019
• 10:00-10:40
• EWI HB 17.150

Development of Data Processing Algorithms for UWB Radar-based Long-Term Health Monitoring

Yiting Lu

In the last two decades, a lot of attention has been focused on contactless radar-based vital signs monitoring (heartbeat and respiration rate) as an emerging and complementary value to our medical care. It is very challenging in real indoor environments to perform concurrent localization and reliable vital signs monitoring of multiple subjects within practical distance ranges. In fact, the multipath propagation results in the reflected signal dispersed in time, which not only causes false ToF (Time of Flight) estimation but also leads to inter-subject interference, jeopardizing the vital signs extraction and the localization.

Here we show a methodology based on radar techniques to automatically locate multiple subjects in indoor environments while keep monitoring their vital signs. This approach, based on the parametric models both of the propagation channel and of the radar signals, is able to cancel the undesired contributions from static clutters and multipath components, by which it is possible to accurately locate the subjects and extract their heart rates and respiration rates.

PRORISC and SAFE 2019

• Thursday, 4 -- Friday, 5 July 2019
• Aula Conference Centre of TUDelft

PRORISC and SAFE 2019

PRORISC is an annual conference on Integrated Circuit (IC) design and SAFE is an annual conference on Microsystems, Materials, Technology and RF-devices. Both conferences are organized together within the three technical Dutch universities Twente, Delft and Eindhoven. The conference is organized by PhD students and is intended for PhD candidates to expand their network and share their research ideas, which provides a unique opportunity for future collaborations. Each year, one of the technical universities will be responsible for the organization of the two conferences. In 2019 the PRORISC will be held at at the campus of Delft University of Technology.

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Microelectronics Colloquium

• Tuesday, 25 June 2019
• 11:00-12:00
• EWI-Lecture hall Chip

Quantum Computer on a Chip

Bogdan Staszewski
University College Dublin

Quantum computing is a new paradigm that exploits fundamental principles of quantum mechanics, such as superposition and entanglement, to tackle problems in mathematics, chemistry and material science that are well beyond the reach of supercomputers. Despite the intensive worldwide race to build a useful quantum computer, it is projected to take decades before reaching the state of useful quantum supremacy. The main challenge is that qubits operate at the atomic level, thus are extremely fragile, and difficult to control and read out. The current state-of-art implements a few dozen magnetic-spin based qubits in a highly specialized technology and cools them down to a few tens of millikelvin. The high cost of cryogenic cooling prevents its widespread use. A companion classical electronic controller, needed to control and read out the qubits, is mostly realized with room-temperature laboratory instrumentation. This makes it bulky and nearly impossible to scale up to the thousands or millions of qubits needed for practical quantum algorithms.

As part of our startup company, we propose a new quantum computer paradigm that exploits the wonderful scaling achievements of mainstream integrated circuits (IC) technology which underpins personal computers and mobile phones. Just like with a small IC chip, where a single nanometer-sized CMOS transistor can be reliably replicated millions of times to build a digital processor, we propose a new structure of a qubit realized as a CMOS-compatible charge-based quantum dot that can be reliably replicated thousands of times to construct a quantum processor. Combined with an on-chip CMOS controller, it will realize a useful quantum computer which can operate at a much higher temperature of 4 kelvin.

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MS3 seminar

• Friday, 21 June 2019
• 14:00-16:30
• EWI Van der Poelzaal

Diversity and nonlinear processing: trends for future radar systems

Prof. Dr. Stéphanie Bidon
Department of Electronics, Optronics and Signal at ISAE-SUPAERO, Université de Toulouse, France

Radar is an exciting field where systems are constantly evolving thanks to technical advances in several domains including RF, electronics and signal processing. Focusing on the latter, this talk illustrates two important trends that are contributing to the development of future radar systems, namely diversity and nonlinear techniques. On the one hand, diversity brings redundant information about the radar scene thereby enabling target discrimination in a given space. On the other hand, nonlinear techniques produce outputs that are not linearly related to the input signals thereby enabling relevant processing in complex scenarios. Benefits of combining both diversity and nonlinear algorithms will be presented in two radar applications: 1) to estimate range migrating targets in blind velocities with a wideband waveform 2) to estimate targets hidden in the pedestal inherent to a multicarrier waveform.

Short bio

Stéphanie Bidon received the engineer degree in aeronautics and the master degree in signal processing from ENSICA, Toulouse, in 2004 and 2005 respectively. She obtained the Ph.D. degree and the Habilitation à Diriger des Recherches in signal processing from INP, Toulouse, in 2008 and 2015 respectively.

She is currently with the Department of Electronics, Optronics and Signal at ISAE-SUPAERO, Université de Toulouse, France, as a professor.

Her research interests include digital signal processing particularly with application to radar systems (STAP, wideband radar detection, RadCom) and GNSS (robust phase tracking).

MS3 seminar

• Friday, 21 June 2019
• 14:00-16:30
• EWI Van der Poelzaal

Misspecification, Robustness and Cognition in Radar Signal Processing: Some Results

Prof. Dr. Maria Sabrina Greco
Dept. of Information Engineering of the University of Pisa

After a brief survey of the activities of the Radar Signal Processing Group of the Dept. of Information Engineering, University of Pisa, the talk will focus on some of the recent and on-going research topics in which Prof. Greco is involved.

Any scientific experiment which aims to gain some knowledge about a real-word phenomenon, in radar systems as in other applications, starts with the data collection. In statistical signal processing, all the available knowledge about a physical phenomenon of interest is summarized in the probability density function (pdf) of the collected observations. In practice, the pdf or/and its characteristic parameters are partly or fully unknown, then any inference procedure starts with its estimation. The easy case is when the hypothesized statistical model and the true one are the same, so they are matched. However, a certain amount of mismatch is often inevitable in practice. The reasons for a model misspecification can be various: it may be due to an imperfect knowledge of the true data model or to the need to fulfill some operative constraints on the estimation algorithm (processing time, simple hardware implementation, and so on).

The first part of the talk aims at providing a short overview on the misspecified estimation framework with a particular focus on the Misspecified Cramér-Rao bound (MCRB). Then a possible approach to minimize the misspecification risk is presented. Specifically, a more general semiparametric characterization of the statistical behavior of the collected data is addressed and some application to the radar scenario is shown.

The talk will then continue with a short introduction to the concept of cognition applied to passive and active radars highlighting the limits and the path forward and will describe some new results regarding the application of some machine learning techniques to “cognitive” MIMO radar.

Short Bio

Maria Sabrina Greco graduated in Electronic Engineering in 1993 and received the Ph.D. degree in Telecommunication Engineering in 1998, from University of Pisa, Italy. From December 1997 to May 1998 she joined the Georgia Tech Research Institute, Atlanta, USA as a visiting research scholar where she carried on research activity in the field of radar detection in non-Gaussian background.

In 1993 she joined the Dept. of Information Engineering of the University of Pisa, where she is Full Professor since 2017. She’s IEEE fellow since Jan. 2011 and she was co-recipient of the 2001 and 2012 IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Society’s Barry Carlton Awards for Best Paper and recipient of the 2008 Fred Nathanson Young Engineer of the Year award for contributions to signal processing, estimation, and detection theory. In May-June 2015 and in January-February 2018 she visited as invited Professor the Université Paris-Sud, CentraleSupélec, Paris, France.

She has been general-chair, technical program chair and organizing committee member of many international conferences over the last 10 years. She has been guest editor of the special issue on “Machine Learning for Cognition in Radio Communications and Radar” of the IEEE Journal on Special Topics of Signal Processing, lead guest editor of the special issue on "Advanced Signal Processing for Radar Applications" of the IEEE Journal on Special Topics of Signal Processing, December 2015, guest co-editor of the special issue of the Journal of the IEEE Signal Processing Society on Special Topics in Signal Processing on "Adaptive Waveform Design for Agile Sensing and Communication," published in June 2007 and lead guest editor of the special issue of International Journal of Navigation and Observation on” Modelling and Processing of Radar Signals for Earth Observation published in August 2008. She’s Associate Editor of IET Proceedings – Sonar, Radar and Navigation, member of the Editorial Board of the Springer Journal of Advances in Signal Processing (JASP), and Senior area chair of the IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing. She’s member of the IEEE AESS Board of Governors and has been member of the IEEE SPS BoG (2015-17) and Chair of the IEEE AESS Radar Panel (2015-16). She has been as well SPS Distinguished Lecturer for the years 2014-2015, and now she's AESS Distinguished Lecturer for the years 2015-2019, and AESS VP Publications.

Her general interests are in the areas of statistical signal processing, estimation and detection theory. In particular, her research interests include clutter models, coherent and incoherent detection in non-Gaussian clutter, CFAR techniques, radar waveform diversity and bistatic/mustistatic active and passive radars, cognitive radars. She co-authored many book chapters and more than 190 journal and conference papers.

Inauguration Earl McCune and Cicero Vaucher

• Friday, 17 -- Friday, 17 May 2019
• 15:00-18:00
• TU Delft Auditorium

Who's talking, who's listening?

Earl McCune, Cicero Vaucher
TU Delft

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Micro electronics colloquium

• Thursday, 28 March 2019
• 15:30-17:00
• EEMCS, Restaurantzaal

High performance data converters; Rethink analog IC design

Nan Sun, Muhammed Bolatkale

Nan Sun: Rethink Analog IC Design

I will present several unconventional data conversion architectures. First, I will talk about how we can make use of noise, which is usually deemed as an undesirable thing, to estimate the conversion residue and increase the SNR of a SAR ADC. It is an interesting example of stochastic resonance, in which the presence of noise can lead to not SNR degradation but SNR enhancement. Second, I will talk about how we can perform data conversion below the Nyquist rate by exploiting the sparsity of the input signal. I will show two example compressive sensing ADCs and how the effective ADC conversion rate can be reduced by 4 times but without losing information. Third, I will show how we can prevent the seemingly inevitable kT/C noise in a Nyquist-rate pipelined ADC by using a continuous-time SAR based 1st-stage. This can substantially reduce the requirement on the ADC input capacitance, greatly reducing the ADC driver power and reference buffer power

Biography of Nan Sun

Nan Sun is Associate Professor at the University of Texas at Austin. He received the B.S. from Tsinghua in 2006 and Ph.D. degree from Harvard in 2010. Dr. Sun received the NSF Career Award in 2013. He serves on the Technical Program Committee of the IEEE Custom Integrated Circuits Conference and the IEEE Asian Solid-State Circuit Conference. He is an Associate Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems – I: Regular Papers, and a Guest Editor of the IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits. He also serves as IEEE Circuits-and-Systems Society Distinguished Lecturer from 2019 to 2020.

Muhammed Bolatkale: High Performance Data Converters

A next generation automotive radio receiver, an all-digital Class-D amplifier, and an advanced Bluetooth transceiver have one thing in common: they rely on high-performance data converter architectures to enable best in class performance. This talk will give an overview of GHz-sampling data converters, especially focusing on wideband delta-sigma and hybrid data converter architectures. We will touch upon state-of-the-art systems and circuit level designs fabricated in advance CMOS nodes.

Bio Muhammed Bolatkale

Muhammed Bolatkale is Senior Principle Scientist at NXP Semiconductors and part-time Associate Professor in the Electronics Instrumentation Laboratory at Delft University of Technology. He received his B. Sc. (high honors) degree from Middle East Technical University, Turkey, in 2004 and the M. Sc. (cum laude) and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands, in 2007 and 2013. Since 2007, Dr. Bolatkale has worked for NXP Semiconductors, specializing in wideband Delta-Sigma ADCs for wireless communications and automotive applications. Dr. Bolatkale received the ISSCC 2016 and 2011 Jan Van Vessem Award for Outstanding European Paper and the IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits 2016 and 2011 Best Paper Award.

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Microelectronics Colloquium

• Friday, 8 March 2019
• 16:00-17:15
• CiTG 0.98 (lecture room opposite PSOR)

Introducing new CAS professors

Andrew Webb, Borbála Hunyadi

Andrew Webb:

MRI is one of the most important clinical imaging modalities for diagnosis and treatment monitoring. Recent trends have been towards ever higher magnetic fields and operating frequencies. This talk outlines some of the technical challenges faced by very high field and conversely very low field MRI, and the roles that electromagnetics and signal processing can play in improving image quality

Borbala Hunyadi

Electroencephalography (EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) record a mixture of ongoing neural processes, physiological and non-physiological noise. The pattern of interest is often hidden within this noisy mixture. This talk gives an overview of signal processing and machine learning techniques to address this issue by capturing the spatiotemporal structure in the (multimodal) data. Special attention is given to tensor-based blind source separation techniques, with applications in epilepsy research.

Radio-frequency engineering for space

• Tuesday, 5 March 2019
• 13:45-15:45
• lecture hall Boole, EWI building

Václav Valenta
European Space Agency

The key challenges in the design of radio-frequency instruments for space will be reviewed. Space environmental aspects will be discussed as well as the practical measures that need to be implemented to assure a high level of reliability. Selected examples will be presented, covering a wide spectrum of applications: from new satellite communication trends, such as active reconfigurable antennas to future scientific RF instruments that will be placed on other planets. Special focus will be put on high-power amplification concepts and integration solutions.

Speaker Bio: Václav Valenta was born in Czechoslovakia and received Master and Doctoral degrees in radio engineering and mathematics from the Brno University of Technology in the Czech Republic and Université Paris-Est in France, respectively. In the past, Dr. Valenta has designed and demonstrated active and passive radar systems operating up to a frequency of 140 GHz. His expertise is in the area of multi-functional RFIC design (SiGe BiCMOS and III-V) covering key functions from amplification, frequency generation/conversion, modulation/demodulation, and heterogenous RFIC integration. Dr. Valenta is currently with the European Space Agency, RF Equipment and Technology Section, running and supporting several R&D projects. Dr. Valenta is responsible for the development of the radio-science instrument "LaRa", which is a scientific payload that will be launched to Mars in the frame of the mission ExoMars 2020.

PhD Thesis Defence

• Thursday, 10 January 2019
• 15:00-17:00
• Aula Senaatszaal

Aleksandar Jovic

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PhD Thesis Defence

• Monday, 26 November 2018
• 12:30-14:00
• Aula Senaatszaal

Surface Acoustic Mode Aluminium Nitride Transducer for micro-size liquid sensing applications

Thu Hang Bui

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PhD Thesis Defence

• Wednesday, 24 October 2018
• 12:30-14:00
• Aula Senaatszaal

Free standing interconnects for stretchable electronics

Shivani Joshi

Additional information ...

Microelectronics Colloquium

• Monday, 8 October 2018
• 10:00-10:45
• EKL Colloquiumroom

Material Engineering for Stability Improvement of Perovskite Solar Cells

C.P. Wong
Georgia Tech

Organolead halide perovskites have recently emerged as a fascinating light harvesting material that combines the advantages of simple fabrication process and excellent electronic properties. The power conversion efficiency (PCE) of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) has been rapidly improved from 3.8% to 23.3% within the past several years. In contrast to the stunning rise in efficiency, the instability of the PSCs is its Achilles’ heel. The instability issue of the whole device originates not only from the perovskite layer itself, but also from the use of doped organic charge transport materials, such as spiro-MeOTAD. This talk is to provide material strategies to improve the stability of the organolead halide perovskite materials as well as other functional layers in PSCs. To improve the air-stability of perovskite films prepared from two-step sequential deposition by simultaneously eliminating PbI2 residue and improving the crystallinity of the perovskite films. We developed PbI2 thin films with nano-pores and tunable crystal sizes, which enabled full conversion of PbI2 to MAPbI3. A large perovskite crystalline domains, and that the impurity-free, lead to reduced trap states and improved air-stability of the perovskite thin films. The second part of my talk is devoted to improve the stability of the entire PSC device by developing a solution-processed NiOx hole-transport layer, as the hygroscopic nature of the NiOx film suppresses the diffusion of water molecules to the perovskite, and it is also insusceptible to heat. As a result, the PSCs with a structure of FTO / TiO2 / Perovskite / NiOx / Au demonstrated remarkable air-stability and thermal stability. By further modifying of the NiOx / metal interface by CuSCN, we further realized high-efficiency PSCs with excellent air stability, exhibiting nearly no efficiency degradation after exposed to air for 4 months. Furthermore, the ion migration-induced instability issue through incorporating extrinsic alkali cations (i.e., Rb+, K+, Na+, or Li+) into the perovskite. The size-dependent interstitial occupancy of the extrinsic alkali cations in the perovskite lattice was proposed and verified for the first time through density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Such interstitial doping method suppressed I- ion migration in the bulk of perovskites, thus resulting in reduced I-V hysteresis of the PSCs, weakened poling effects and improved photo stability of wide-bandgap mixed-halide perovskites.

Microelectronics Colloquium

• Tuesday, 25 September 2018
• 03:00-05:00
• EWI, Snijderszaal

Tenure track colloquium

Sten Vollebregt, Massimo Mastrangeli, Daniele Cavallo

Wideband phased arrays for future wireless communication terminals, Daniele Cavallo (TS group)

Wireless data traffic will grow exponentially in the next years, due to the proliferation of user terminals and bandwidth-greedy applications. To address this demand, the next generations of mobile communication (5G and beyond) will have to shift the operation to higher frequencies, especially to millimetre-wave (mmWave) spectrum (30-300 GHz), that can provide extremely high-speed data links. To enable mm-wave wireless communication, mobile terminals such as smartphones will need phased arrays antennas, able to radiate or receive greater power in specific directions that can be dynamically steered electronically. However, to cover the different 5G mm-wave bands simultaneously (28, 39, 60 GHz, …) and to achieve total angular coverage, too many of such antennas should be on the same device: the main bottleneck is the insufficient space available to place all antenna modules. Therefore, I propose to investigate novel phased array antenna solutions with very large angular coverage and ultra-wide frequency bandwidth, to massively reduce the overall space occupation of handset antennas and overcome the current limitations of mobile terminal antenna development.

Towards smart organs-on-chip, Massimo Mastrangeli (ECTM Group)

Organs-on-chip are microfluidic systems that enable dynamic tissue co-cultures under physiologically realistic conditions. OOCs are helping innovating the drug screening process and gaining new fundamental insights in human physiology. In this talk, after a summary of my past research journey, I will describe how the ECTM group at TU Delft is envisioning the use microfabrication and materials science to embed real-time sensing and actuation in innovative and scalable OOC platforms.

Emerging electronic materials: from lab to fab, Sten Vollebregt (ECTM group)

Due to their nm-size features and often unique physical properties nanomaterials, like nanotubes and 2D materials, can potentially outperform classical materials or even provide functionality which cannot be obtained otherwise. Because of this, these nanomaterials hold many promises for the next generation of devices for sensing & communication and health & wellbeing.

Unfortunately, many promising applications of nanomaterials never reach sufficient maturity to be implemented in actual products. This is mostly because the interest in the academic community reduces once the initial properties have been demonstrated, while the risk for industrialization is still too high for most companies to start their own R&D activities. My goal is to bridge these two worlds by investigating the integration of novel nanomaterials in semiconductor technology and demonstrating the scalability of novel sensing devices. In this talk, I will give examples on how carbon nanotubes, graphene and other emerging nanomaterials can be used in the next generation of sensing devices.

5G Phased Arrays

• Monday, 25 -- Friday, 29 June 2018
• TU Delft

International Summer School on 5G Phased Arrays

Understanding of phased array operation requires multi- disciplinary approach, which is based on the antenna array, microwave circuit and signal processing theories. By bringing these three areas together, the school provides integral approach to phased array front-ends for 5G communication systems.

At the school the phased array foundations will be considered from antenna, RF technology and signal processing points of view. Realization of 5G capabilities such as high data-rate communication link to moving objects will be discussed. The education will be concluded by a design project.

The summer school is open for all young specialists and researchers from both industry and academia. The attendees should have basic knowledge about EM, electrical circuits and signal processing (graduate courses on electromagnetic waves, electrical circuits including microwave (RF) circuits, and signal processing).

Topics:

• Foundations of antenna arrays
• Antenna array topologies for 5G applications
• Analog and digital beamforming in antenna arrays
• Front-end architecture and performance
• 5G applications and system requirements
  Additional information ...

Conferences

• Thursday, 7 -- Friday, 8 June 2018
• 10:30-17:30
• University of Twente, Eschede

PRORISC 2018 Conference

Annual conference on Integrated Circuit (IC) design, organized within the three technical Dutch universities Twente, Delft and Eindhoven

Additional information ...

Conferences

• Thursday, 7 -- Friday, 8 June 2018
• 10:30-17:30

SAFE 2018 Conference

Annual conference on Micro-systems, Materials, Technology and RF-devices, organized within the three technical Dutch universities of Twente, Delft and Eindhoven.

Additional information ...

PhD Thesis Defence

• Monday, 30 April 2018
• 14:30-17:30
• Aula Senaatszaal

Reducing Switching Artifacts in Chopper Amplifiers

Yoshinori Kusuda

Program:
14:30 - 14:45 Layman’s talk
15:00 - 16:00 Public defense
16:15 - 16:30 Diploma ceremony
16:30 - 17:30 Reception


The abstract and the dissertation can be found in the link below. abstract
dissertation

Additional information ...

Electronic Instrumentation Colloquium

• Monday, 30 April 2018
• 11:00-12:00
• Snijderszaal (LB01.010)

Reducing Switching Artifacts in Chopper Amplifiers

Yoshinori Kusuda

Abstract

Chopping is a technique with which amplifier offset can be reduced to sub-μV levels, at the expense of reduced signal bandwidth due to chopping artifacts such as up-modulated ripple and glitches. In this talk, some circuit techniques to reduce such artifacts are proposed.These circuit techniques have been used in three commercially-available operational amplifiers, whose design and measured performance will be discussed. Lastly, some of the challenges associated in testing low-offset amplifiers in mass-production will be discussed..

Biography

Yoshinori Kusuda received the B.S. degree in electrical and electronic engineering in 2002, and M.S. degree in PhysicalElectronics in 2004, both from Tokyo Institute of Technology. Upon his graduation in 2004, he joined the Japan DesignCenter of Analog Devices (ADI) as an IC design engineer. He is currently based in San Jose, CA, U.S.A., working for the Linear and Precision Technology Group of ADI. The focus of his work is on precision CMOS analog designs, including stand-alone amplifiers and application specific mixed-signal products. This has resulted in presentations and papers at IEEE conferences and journals, as well as nine issued U.S. patents. Since August2015, he has been a guest researcher at the ElectronicInstrumentation Laboratory of the TU Delft.

Smart Sensor Systems 2018

• Monday, 16 -- Friday, 20 April 2018
• 09:00-12:30
• TU DELFT

Smart Sensor Systems 2018

This course addresses the design and development of smart sensor systems. After a general overview, various key aspects of sensor systems are discussed: measurement and calibration techniques, the design of precision sensor interfaces, analog-to-digital conversion techniques, and sensing principles for the measurement of magnetic fields, temperature, capacitance, acceleration and rotation. The state-of-the-art smart sensor systems covered by the course include smart magnetic-field sensors, smart temperature sensors, physical chemosensors, multi-electrode capacitive sensors, implantable smart sensors, DNA microarrays, smart inertial sensors, smart optical microsystems and CMOS image sensors. A systematic approach towards the design of smart sensor systems is presented. The lectures are augmented by case studies and hands-on demonstrations.

Additional information ...

PhD Thesis Defence

• Tuesday, 3 April 2018
• 12:00-14:00
• Aula Senaatszaal

Front-End ASICs for 3-D Ultrasound: From Beamforming to Digitization

Chao Chen

Program:
12:00 - 12:15 Introductory presentation
12:30 - 13:30 Public defense
13:45 - 14:00 Diploma ceremony
Address: Senaatszaal of the Aula Congress Center

SUMMARY
This thesis describes the analysis, design and evaluation of front-end application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) for 3-D medical ultrasound imaging, with the focus on the receive electronics. They are specifically designed for next-generation miniature 3-D ultrasound devices, such as transesophageal echocardiography (TEE), intracardiac echocardiography (ICE) and intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) probes. These probes, equipped with 2-D array transducers and thus the capability of volumetric visualization, are crucial for both accurate diagnosis and therapy guidance of cardiovascular diseases. However, their stringent size constraints, as well as the limited power budget, increase the difficulty in integrating in-probe electronics. The mismatch between the increasing number of transducer elements and the limited cable count that can be accommodated, also makes it challenging to acquire data from these probes. Front-end ASICs that are optimized in both system architecture and circuit-level implementation are proposed in this thesis to tackle these problems.
The techniques described in this thesis have been applied in several prototype realizations, including one LNA test chip, one PVDF readout IC, two analog beamforming ASICs and one ASIC with on-chip digitization and datalinks. All prototypes have been evaluated both electrically and acoustically. The LNA test chip achieved a noise-efficiency factor (NEF) that is 2.5 × better than the state-of-the-art. One of the analog beamforming ASIC achieved a 0.27 mW/element power efficiency with a compact layout matched to a 150 µm element pitch. This is the highest power-efficiency and smallest pitch to date, in comparison with state-of-the-art ultrasound front-end ASICs. The ASIC with integrated beamforming ADC consumed only 0.91 mW/element within the same element area. A comparison with previous digitization solutions for 3-D ultrasound shows that this work achieved a 10 × improvement in power-efficiency, as well as a 3.3 × improvement in integration density.

The dissertation can be found in the TU Delft repository: http://doi.org/10.4233/uuid:a5002bb0-4701-4e33-aef6-3c78d0c9fd70

Additional information ...

MEST Symposium

• Friday, 16 February 2018
• Aula Lecture Hall C

Mini Symposium on Hardware Security

Three talks from leading companies in the industry: Brighsight, Intrinsic ID and Riscure with the following topics:

1.    “Past , Present and Future of Hardware Attacks on Smart Cards and SOCs” by Gerard van Battum, Sr. Security Evaluator at Brightsight;
2.     “Removing the barriers of securing a broad range of IoT devices” by Dr. Georgios Selimis, Senior Security Engineer, Intrinsic ID;
3.    “How to use Deep Learning for hardware security testing?” by Marc Witteman (MSc), Chief Executive Officer, Riscure.

Organized by the Micro-electronic Systems and Technology Association (MEST).

Free but required registration at the link below.

Additional information ...

5G Multi-Beam Antenna Topologies

• Friday, 24 November 2017
• 14:30-15:30
• HB17.150

5G Multi-Beam Antenna Topologies

Yanki Aslan

Description: Using the concept of beam-division multiple access, a base station can communicate with multiple users sharing the same time and frequency resources. In this seminar, I will talk about possible ways to design low-cost 5G phased array base station antenna systems at mm-waves for multiple beam forming with enhanced spatial multiplexing, limited interference, acceptable power consumption, passive cooling and suitable processing complexity and speed.

Additional information ...

Conferences

• Friday, 14 April 2017
• 10:00-12:00

Eurosensors dead-line

• Tuesday, 4 April 2017

Millimeter- and Submillimeter-Wave Applications in Biology: Potential and Challenges

Peter H. Siegel
California Institute of Technology

The millimeter and submillimeter wave regimes, roughly spanning 30-3000 GHz, have moved to the forefront of recent expansion and innovative use of the RF spectrum. Traditional motivations for working at millimeter wavelengths have tended to focus mainly on commercial and defense-motivated wireless applications, such as communications, radar and to some extent, imaging. At higher THz frequencies, despite considerable commercial pressure, most of the emphasis is still on basic science, with a strong concentration in fundamental physics and chemistry, spectroscopy, and ground and space-based astrophysics, planetary atmospheres, and Earth science. As we move from the “Space Age” into the “Age of Biology” it is appropriate to take a closer look at what we can already do with millimeter and submillimeter-wave technology, and whether we might turn up any interesting new applications, or at least find some low hanging fruit which might be easily plucked, by simply refocusing some existing circuits and techniques. On the way, there are essential tweaks that have to be made to common devices and circuits, particularly antennas, in order to accommodate the constraints of water-based tissue.

Microelectronics Colloquium

• Wednesday, 15 March 2017
• 15:00-17:00
• EWI: Snijderszaal

Microelectronics Department Colloquium

Daniele Cavallo, Vasiliki Giagka, Fabio Sebastiano, Rob Remis

On Wednesday March 15 the next Microelectronics colloquium wil take place, including four lectures by staff members.

Please register online by completing the form.

• Vasso Giagka
  Flexible bioelectronic medicines
  Abstract: Bioelectronic medicines are the next generation of neuromodulation devices: small active three-dimensional neural interfaces able to modulate nerve activity by targeting a specific neural region. They aim to treat a number of conditions, such as diabetes and asthma, in a tailored (per individual) and reversible fashion, avoiding the side effects of conventional drug-based interventions (pharmaceuticals). They achieve so by recording signals from the respective nerves, extracting information and using it as feedback to electrically stimulate the neural region in a closed-loop manner.
  
  Current technologies for active implants have not yet managed to achieve the miniaturisation and integration levels required for the development of bioelectronic medicines. For such breakthrough devices, novel concepts need to be explored, developed, and tested.
  
  In this talk I will present my current activities as well as my vision on realizing the first flexible three-dimensional graphene active implant, for safe chronic neural stimulation and recording from the peripheral nerves.
  
  
• Fabio Sebastiano
  Cryo-CMOS for Quantum Computing: does it work?
  Quantum computing holds the promise to change our lives by efficiently solving computing problems that are intractable today, such as simulation of quantum systems for synthesis of materials and drugs. A quantum computer comprises both a quantum processor and a classical electronic controller to operate and read out the quantum devices. The quantum processor must be cooled at cryogenic temperature in order to show quantum behavior, thus making it unfeasible to wire thousands of signals from the cryogenic quantum devices to a room-temperature controller.
  
  While this issue can be solved by placing also the electronic controller at cryogen¬ic temperature, which electronic technology is the best choice for its implementation? This talk will address the challenges of building such electronic controller, and answer whether a standard CMOS technology can be employed for the required analog and digital circuits operating at 4 K and below.
  
  
• Daniele Cavallo
  Advanced Antenna Arrays for Modern Radar and Communication Systems
  Abstract: Several of today’s radar and wireless communication applications are shifting their operation to higher frequency to fulfil more demanding requirements on resolution, compactness and data rates. For this reason, there is a growing need to develop low-cost integrated circuit transceivers working at millimeter and sub-millimeter waves.
  
  However, on-chip antennas are currently characterized by very poor radiation efficiency and extremely narrow bandwidth. My approach of combining the concepts of connected arrays with artificial dielectrics will solve the inefficiency problem and enable high-efficiency on-chip antenna designs.
  
  Similar concepts can be also realized at microwave frequencies in printed circuit board, allowing for low-cost phased array antennas with state-of-the-art performance in terms of scan range, bandwidth and polarization purity.
  
  
• Rob Remis
  Imaging with Waves
  We present an overview of our current wave field imaging and inversion research. Effective inversion strategies for important applications in Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), nano-optics, and subsurface monitoring will be discussed. In particular, dielectric shimming (shaping of the radio frequency field in MRI) as well as inversion algorithms that determine the dielectric properties of various tissue types based on measured MRI data will be considered, and state-of-the-art model-order reduction techniques for large-scale wave propagation problems will be discussed as well.
  
  

Inverse Problems in Electromangetics

• Thursday, 23 February 2017
• 12:45-13:45
• EWI: Lecture Room Chip

Challenges and New Frontiers

IEEE AP-Sdistinguished Professor Andrea lecturer: MASSA
University of Trento and Director Eledia Research Center

Inverse problems arise when formulating and addressing many synthesis and sensing applications in modern electromagnetic engineering. Indeed, the objective of antenna design, microwave imaging, and radar remote sensing can be seen as that of retrieving a physical quantity (the shape of the radiating system, the dielectric profile of a device under test, the reflectivity of an area) starting from (either measured or “desired”) electromagnetic field data. Nevertheless, the solution of the well‐known theoretical features (including ill‐posedness, non‐uniqueness, ill‐conditioning, etc.) of electromagnetic inverse problems still represents a major challenge from the practical viewpoint. Indeed, developing and implementing robust, fast, effective, and general‐purpose techniques able to solve arbitrary electromagnetic inverse problem still represent a holy grail from the academic and industrial viewpoint. Accordingly, several ad‐hoc solutions (i.e., effective only for specific application domains) have been developed in the recent years

In this framework, one of the most important research frontiers is the development of inversion techniques which enable the exploitation of both the information coming from the electromagnetic data and of that which is provided by prior knowledge of the scenario, application, or device of interest. Indeed, exploiting a‐priori information to regularize the problem formulation is known to be a key asset to reduce the drawbacks of inversion processes (i.e., the its ill‐posedness). However, properly introducing prior knowledge within an inversion technique is an extremely complex task, and suitable solutions are available only for specific classes of scenarios (e.g., comprising sparseness regularization terms).The aim of this talk is to provide a broad review of the current trends and objectives in the development of innovative inversion methodologies and algorithms. Towards this end, after a review of the literature on the topic, different classes of methodologies aimed at combining prior and acquired information (possibly in an iterative fashion) will be discussed, and guidelines on how to apply the arising strategies to different domains will be provided, along with numerical/experimental results. The open challenges and future trends of the research will be discussed as well

Additional information ...

MS3 seminar

• Wednesday, 15 February 2017
• 16:00-17:00
• EEMCS, Snijderszaal

Capabilities and Research Activities at the University of Oklahoma Advanced Radar Research Center

Prof. Nathan A. Goodman
The Advanced Radar Research Center (ARRC) at the University of Oklahoma

The Advanced Radar Research Center (ARRC) at the University of Oklahoma consists of a vibrant group of faculty and students from both engineering and meteorology, focused on solving challenging radar problems and preparing the next generation of students. Through the collaborative nature instilled in its members, the ARRC has proven effective at developing synergy between science and engineering in the field of radar. The ARRC resides in state-of-art Radar Innovations Laboratory, a one-of-a-kind and unrivalled facility for radar research, development, and education. This 35,000-sqft facility includes microwave labs, advanced fabrication capability, and two anechoic chambers.

Bio Prof. Goodman: Nathan A. Goodman received the B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Kansas, Lawrence, in 1995, 1997, and 2002, respectively. From 1996 to 1998, he was an RF systems engineer for Texas Instruments, Dallas, TX., and from 2002 to 2011, he was a faculty member in the ECE Department of the University of Arizona, Tucson. He is now a Professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Director of Research for the Advanced Radar Research Center at the University of Oklahoma, Norman.

MS3 seminar

• Monday, 13 February 2017
• 15:30-18:00
• EWI Snijderszaal

MS3 Master Event

Come to learn about our group and current Master Thesis Projects...

Additional information ...

Terahertz Sensing group seminar

• Tuesday, 7 February 2017
• 15:00-16:00
• Lecture hall D@TA

Design of mm-wave, multifunction ICs for data communication and remote sensing

Prof. Herbert Zirath
Chalmers University of Technology

FLYER OF THE SEMINAR___________
The transmission rate of wireless data in the mobile networks is doubling every year due to the increased usage of mobile multimedia services like streaming video, music, television, data transfer in smartphones and laptop-computers etc. This tendency will require continuously improved telecom infrastructure regarding both base-stations and the backhaul communication links. Today, the E-band (71-76, 81-86, 92-95 GHz) is employed increasingly in the networks, allowing multi Gbps data rate. In a near future however, the E-band will be crowded, and novel, higher frequency bands will have to be employed as well. Several hundred Gigahertz bandwidth is available for new communication and sensing applications just waiting to be exploited at frequencies above 100 GHz. Until now, components for making such ‘THz-systems’ have been too expensive, too bulky, too power hungry and nonsufficient in terms of generating enough power for communication systems. With newly developed RFIC-processes, it is now possible to design multifunctional integrated circuits, realizing a full ‘frontend on a chip’ at frequencies well beyond 100 GHz. Recent results from ongoing projects aiming at enabling new applications for next generation mobile infrastructure, 5G, and security imaging, up to 340 GHz will be reported. So far, critical building blocks such as LNA, PA, VCO, modulator and demodulator, frequency multiplier, power detector and mixer have recently been developed, and results will be reported. Multifunction front-end circuits such as complete receive and transmit RFICs, mixed signal designs for co-integrated baseband/frontend ICs, and radiometer ICs have also been developed and will be reported as well, including the newly developed D-band (110 to 170 GHz) frontend chipset demonstrating state-of-the-art bitrate of beyond 40 Gbps.

Additional information ...

Microelectronics Introduction Colloquium

• Monday, 12 December 2016
• Theatre - Culture Building 38, Mekelweg 10

Introduction 3 new Tenure Trackers

Masoud Babaie, Morteza Alavi, Faruk Uysal

On December 12 we organize the next Microelectronics Colloquium to introduce three new Assistant Professors (Tenure Trackers) of the Microelectronics department. They are happy to present a lecture about their research.

The colloquium start at 15.00 hrs. there will be a drink afterwards in the foyer.
Location: Theatre of Culture Builing (38) Mekelweg 10.
Please register online if you want to attend, latest December 5.

• Masoud Babaie: Pushing The Limits of CMOS Circuits for Emerging Technologies
  Within the next few years, quantum processors, Fifth Generation (5G) cellular systems and the wireless Internet-of-Things (IoT) are expected to see significant deployment to realize more integration between the physical and digital worlds, promising enormous computation power, high data rate communications and enabling more objects to be remotely sensed and controlled.
  
  This talk will address some of the main challenges in the design and implementation of IoT devices, mm-wave 5G transceivers, and cryogenic CMOS controller for quantum computers. An overview of my past and ongoing research activities will be also presented, with emphasis on novel solutions to improve power efficiency and spectral purity of RF/mm-wave transceivers.
  
  
• Morteza Alavi: Universal Transmitters for 5G
  Today, our daily activities are intertwined with the Internet. The ever-growing demand to swiftly get access to the data-cloud systems leads to huge data traffic. In order to seamlessly transmit and receive these gigantic data, _ 40 GB, agile radio-frequency (RF) transceivers are inevitable.
  
  These radios must be capable of supporting the current and future communication standards such as 5th generation of wireless mobile communications. The ultimate goal is that they can be implemented as universal radios whose modes of operation can be defined by their clients. To address these demands, RF transmitters are currently reinvented and are directed towards digital-intensive architecture. In this short presentation, we will briefly describe the strengths,possibilities, and challenges that exist for these advanced transmitters. First and foremost, the concept of RF-DAC based transmitters will be introduced. Next, the talk will review various RF-DAC based transmitters that have already been implemented at ELCA. Eventually, the presentation will concisely unveil the future directions of the research of these software-defined transmitters at ELCA.
  
  
• Faruk Uysal: Distributed Radar Networks: Beyond a single radar
  The number of operational radar is rapidly increasing due to the growing demand of the remote sensing. Software defined radio and emerging single-chip radar technology make use of radars in every aspect of life such as autonomous driving, safety and security applications. With the increase of active transmitters, spectrum management and coexistence started to become a concern for some radar systems. In this talk, the previous applications of waveform, frequency agility will be reviewed to bring multi-functionality to the modern radar system. Finally, we will discuss the future research for distributed radar networks and how to fuse data from various radars to acquire different aspects of a target to be viewed simultaneously.

• Monday, 19 September 2016
• 15:00-17:30
• Aula, committee room A3

Special Celebrative Seminar: New model of Sino-Dutch R&D cooperation

Since the establishment of TU Delft's Beijing Research Centre (BRC) in 2012, 10 PhD researchers have been enrolled for this unique program in close cooperation with our Chinese Academic Partners. We are very pleased that the first two BRC PhD candidates will have their PhD thesis defence on September 19 2016, in the Aula of Delft University of Technology.

To celebrate this important milestone, we would like to invite you to join a special seminar after the defences, about the New model of Sino-Dutch R&D cooperation, to share the experiences, look to the future and raise the glass together.

Additional information ...

PhD Thesis Defence Ozan Yurduseven

• Wednesday, 6 July 2016
• 10:00
• Aula Sentaatszaal

Wideband Integrated Lens Antennas for Terahertz Deep Space Investigation

The Terahertz (THz) band is the portion of the spectrum that covers a frequency range from 300 GHz to 3 THz. The potential of this band has been proven for numerous type of applications including medical imaging, non-destructive testing, space observation, spectroscopy and security screening, thanks to its good compromise between the spatial resolution and penetration. Most of these applications demand for high spatial and range resolution of the images, as well as fast acquisition time. To fulfill such requirements, focal plane arrays (FPAs) need to comprise a large number of elements and be able to operate over broad bandwidths. Moreover, fabrication of the FPAs with thousands of antenna elements becomes a real issue at such frequencies due to the fabrications constraints and immense manufacturing costs

Additional information ...

• Thursday, 30 June 2016
• 10:30-11:30
• EWI HB 03.240 (van Katwijkzaal)

Physical Foundations Underlying Green Information and Communication Technologies

Earl McCune

There are physical limitations on how much energy efficiency can be realized from any actual hardware used to implement any communications standard.? Experience shows that in most instances the signals adopted by the standard committee place an additional ceiling on the achievable energy efficiency using that hardware.? For example, there is hardware that is capable of providing more than 60% energy efficiency under ideal conditions, but for some standardized signals the maximum achievable efficiency drops to 7%.? This drop in achievable efficiency is predictable, and such analyses should become part of standards committee deliberations.? Such a low operating efficiency is not compatible with IoT, 5G, and other upcoming Standards objectives.

This presentation was originally given to the IEEE Green-ICT Initiative Steering Committee at the IEEE Board meeting series in New Jersey on June 16, 2016.? It establishes the reasons why such efficiency ceilings occur and shows how to predict them.? Further, recipes are provided on how it is physically possible to simultaneously achieve high bandwidth efficiency and optimum energy efficiency ? along with the PSD impacts that come with these more Green-optimized signal modulations.

Additional information ...

Workshop: High Frequency Coherent Arrays

• Thursday, 2 June 2016
• 10:00-16:00
• Room Pi

Kick-off of Nuria LLombart ERC

Vaucher C. (NXP), Cooper K. (JPL/NASA), Chattopadhyay G. (JPL/NASA), Bryllert T. (Chalmers), Neto A. (TUDelft), Llombart N. (TUDelft)

Dear all, As a kick-off of my ERC grant, I am organizing a one day workshop oriented to the development of coherent arrays at high frequencies. The workshop will be held at TUDelft on June 2nd. Please save the date! The workshop will consist on 30-min talks by international speakers working in this area plus a 15-min questions and open discussion on relevant topics. The speakers will be Cicero Voucher from NXP, Goutam Chattopadhyay and Ken Cooper from JPL, Tomas Bryllert from Chalmers University. The workshop will end with a presentation from Andrea Neto and a kick-off presentation of my ERC grant. It would a be nice occasion for all of us to discuss about the future challenges in developing sensing, radars and communication applications at sub-millimeter wave frequencies. With best regards, Nuria Llombart

Thesis Presentation

• Wednesday, 25 November 2015
• 09:00-11:30
• TU Delft, EEMSC Building, Snijderszaal

Analysis and Design of Pulsed Photoconductive Antennas

Siyi Zhou

Photoconductive antennas (PCA) are widely used in contemporary THz systems, especially in terahertz time-domain spectroscopy. They are used to radiate and receive THz power. The study of the generation and reception of THz radiation involves both semiconductor theory, electromagnetics, and antenna theory. In this work, after a review of some equivalent circuits for analyzing PCAs, a novel Norton equivalent circuit model is discussed. It effectively describes the coupling between the photoconductor and the antenna. In order to increase the radiated THz power, a connected array solution of PCA is discussed. Connected arrays allow an efficient radiation of the antenna on a large bandwidth and are therefore suitable for radiating the picosecond pulses generated in the photoconductor. In order to realize a connected array of PCA, a proper biasing circuit has to be designed. Such circuit can involve the use of inductors manufactured in printed circuit board technology. Two possible designs of inductor are also discussed.

Microelectronics Colloquium

• Monday, 21 September 2015
• 15:00-17:00
• TU Delft - Culture - Theatre, Building 38, Mekelweg 10

Extreme Electronics

Fabio Sebastiano, Vasiliki Giagka, Daniele Cavallo

Please Register if you want to join the colloquium.
During the Microelectronics Colloquium "Extreme Electronics". Three new Assistant Professors (Tenure Tracker) of the Microelectronics Department will present a lecture in this context.

• Dr. Vasiliki Giagka (Bioelectronics)
  Lecture: Active Implantable Microsystems
  
• Dr. Daniele Cavallo (Tera Hertz Sensing)
  Towards the Implementation of Integrated, On Chip Tera Hertz Systems
  
• Dr. Fabio SebastianoElectronics Instrumentation)
  Cryogenic CMOS for Quantum Computers
  

This will be a good occasion to meet the new staff members and learn about their research. There will be a drink afterwards as well.

Vasiliki Giagka - Active Implantable Microsystems
Implantable devices have been part of our lives for many decades now. The understanding of the electrical properties of the transmitted signals in our bodies have given researchers ideas on how to interface with them by using electronics. The concept of active implants refers to the miniaturisation of the electronics and their integration into microsystems suitable to live in our bodies. These devices can be employed to write signals to the body, inhibit undesired functionality for target organs, or read signals that convey the intention of our organism. This talk will focus on presenting some of the main applications and possibilities of active implants, and will discuss the challenges related to implantable microsystems, through the example of the design, fabrication and evaluation of a stimulating active electrode array for rehabilitation of walking after spinal cord injury

Daniele Cavallo - Towards the implementation of Integrated,On Chip Terahertz Systems
Terahertz (THz) sources and detectors have been developed in the last years for applications such as space observation, spectroscopy and security screening. However, until now, the components for making such THz systems have been very bulky and pricey, and thus not suitable for cost-driven commercial applications of THz technology. In the next years, my research will be focused on the development of low-cost, efficient and highly-integrated THz systems. On the one hand, the rapid scaling of CMOS and SiGe BiCMOS will eventually enable the realization of low-cost THz electronics. On the other hand, a careful co-design of the electronic circuit, the antenna and the quasi-optical system is crucial to bring real advances in this field. An overview on the ongoing research activities on integrated THz transceivers will be presented, with emphasis on novel solutions to improve the efficiency of on-chip antennas.

Fabio Sebastiano - Cryogenic CMOS for Quantum Computers
Quantum computers hold the promise to change our everyday lives in this century in the same radical way as the classical computer did in the last century, by efficiently solving problems that are intractable today, such as large number factorization and simulation of quantum systems. Quantum processors must be cooled at cryogenic temperatures well below 1 K and each of their quantum bits (qubit) must be controlled by a classical electronic interface. Since future quantum processors with practical applications will require up to thousands or millions of quantum bits (qubit), the electronic controller must operate at cryogen?ic temperatures as close as possible to the quantum processor, to avoid the unpractical requirement of thousands of cables from the cryogenic refrigerator to a room-temperature controller. This talk will address the challenges of building such a scalable silicon-based cryogenic electronic controller, focusing on to use standard CMOS technology to build complex analog and digital systems and circuits operating down to 4 K and below.

Additional information ...

Mm-Wave In-Package Antennas for Short-Range Car Radar Application

• Thursday, 20 August 2015
• 10:00-11:00
• EEMSC Building, Timmanzaal

Wenda Zhu

The automotive radar market is rapidly expanding, with the need of including multiple sensors on board of vehicles to assist the drivers. Short-range radars have recently attracted great attention for applications ranging from parking assistance to collision avoidance and crash mitigation. These radar systems, operating at 77 GHz, have high potential to replace ultrasound sensors, which are mostly used nowadays.
The key drive for the development of short-range radars is the reduction in area, cost and power for such systems. Therefore, a high-level of integration is required for the entire front end, with the goal of incorporating the antennas and the electronics in a single compact module. Novel packaging technologies such as embedded wafer level ball grid array (eWLB) have introduced new possibilities to integrate single antennas or antenna arrays in the package.
The aim of this master thesis project is to demonstrate the feasibility of integrating single and multiple antennas in the eWLB package, to avoid the need of external printed circuit boards, with consequent reduction of costs and complexity. The antennas must operate in the frequency band from 76 to 81 GHz and maintain high-quality radiation patterns within a wide field of view, which is crucial for the envisaged application.
Several solutions have been investigated and compared. A possible design of a system including a transmit and a receive array has been proposed and its performance has been assessed with the aid of electromagnetic simulations.

Additional information ...

SPACEKIDs, or how to use KIDs in SPACE

• Friday, 26 June 2015
• EEMSC Building, Timmanzaal

Photon noise limited performance over an octave of bandwidth

Juan Bueno
Sron

We present the development of background limited kinetic inductance detectors (KIDs) for sub-millimeter (sub-mm) astronomy applications. The sub-mm radiation is coupled to the KID via a leaky wave antenna covering the frequency range from 1.4 to 2.8THz. We have developed a hybrid niobium titanium nitride/aluminium (NbTiN/Al) KID, fabricated on a silicon (Si) substrate, in which the leaky wave antenna and absorbing section of the KID are fabricated on a suspended silicon nitride (SiN) membrane. The radiation is coupled to the leaky wave antenna with a Si lens placed on top of it at a distance of 3μm. The crucial result achieved in this development is the observation photon noise limited performance both in the phase and amplitude readout simultaneously, with a good optical efficiency at a frequency of 1.55THz. The Fourier Transform Spectroscopy (FTS) measurements show the broadband radiation coupling for an octave of bandwidth, and the beam pattern measurements at 1.55THz are in qualitative agreement with the simulated patterns. In summary, we have developed a new fabrication route that assures photon noise limited performance, and a scalable assembly method that provides the 3μm gap space between the antenna and the lens. These developments assure background limited performance with a broad frequency coupling over an octave of bandwidth for sub-mm radiation.

PhD Thesis Defence

• Tuesday, 16 June 2015
• 12:30
• Aula TU Delft Senaatszaal

On the Control of Surface Waves in Integrated Antenna: Analysis and Design Exploiting Artificial Dielectric Layers

In the design of planar antennas, good front-to-back radiation ratio can be achieved by loading the radiating element with an electrically thick and dense dielectric slab. However, this leads to significant coupling of power into surface wave modes, via those rays that are radiated by the antenna at angles greater than the critical angle, thus deteriorating the antenna radiation performances.

In this dissertation, a planar methodology to solve the issue of surface waves is presented, which can be used to obtain simultaneously high radiation efficiency and good front-to- back radiation ratio. This consists in engineering anisotropic equivalent materials, referred to as artificial dielectric layers (ADL), and use them to enhance the performance of planar antennas. A practical planar realization of this concept can be achieved by embedding inside the host dielectric a periodic array of sub-wavelength square metal patches in a multilayer configuration. In this work, the main aspects pertaining to the theoretical development and the practical implementation of ADLs are investigated.

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PhD Thesis Defence

• Friday, 12 June 2015
• 12:30
• Aula TU Delft Senaatszaal

Quasioptical Imaging Systems at THz Frequencies

Beatriz Blázquez

The Terahertz gap is the portion of the spectrum lying between 300 GHz and 3 THz. The initial development of Terahertz technology was driven by Space-based instruments for astrophysics, planetary, cometary and Earth science. However, in recent years, the interest of Terahertz science has been rapidly expanded due to the emergence of new applications as secure screening of concealed weapons for military and civil purposes, biological screening, medical imaging, industrial process control and communication technology, to mention some of them. A common characteristic of THz systems is that all of them use quasioptical elements to focus the beams and achieve sufficient signal-to-noise ratios.

This doctoral thesis has focus on the analysis and development of quasioptical systems for two different types of THz applications: direct detection for space and heterodyne imaging for security. In the first part, THz absorbers-based detectors for space applications are studied. As this type of detectors can only be studied in reception, their analysis, when located under focusing systems, is usually done by full wave simulations under normal incidence illumination. This method does not describe well the actual coupling to the focusing element when the F/D ratio of the system is relatively small. A spectral model based on Fourier optics has been developed for an accurate and efficient analysis of linear absorbers under THz focusing systems for both small and large F/D ratios. The second part of this thesis is devoted to the optical system of a THz imaging radar for security screening. The goal in this part was to provide an existing THz imaging radar with new capabilities by using quasioptical solutions that do not modify the scanning mechanism and the back-end electronics. On one hand, the radar has been provided with an all quasioptical waveguide that performs time-delay multiplexing of the beams, reducing the image acquisition time a factor of two by only adding some extra optical elements to the system. Furthermore, the feasibility of this technique to be applied to large linear arrays of transceivers is proven. On the other hand, the radar was provided with refocusing capabilities by implementing the classical optical solution of translating the transceiver.

Additional information ...

• Friday, 12 June 2015
• 10:00-11:00
• EEMSC Building, Dimes Colloquium room

Flat Optics

Professor Stefano Maci
Professor at the University of Siena (UNISI) and Director of UNISI?s Ph.D. School of Information Engineering and Science

Metasurfaces constitute a class of thin metamaterials used for controlling plane waves and surface wave. At microwave frequencies, they are constituted by sub-wavelength size patches printed on thin grounded dielectric substrates. By averaging the tangential fields, metasurfaces may be characterized by homogenised isotropic or anisotropic boundary conditions, which can be approximated through homogeneous equivalent impedances. In the low frequency regime and in absence of losses, this impedance supports the propagation of a surface wave. The impedance can be spatially modulated by locally changing the size/orientation of the printed elements. This allows for a deformation of the wavefront which addresses the local wavector along not-rectilinear paths. The ray paths are subjected to an eikonal equation analogue to the one for Geometrical Optics rays in graded index materials. For this reason we will refer to the theory which regulates the SW propagation as Flat Optics. In this presentation, we introduce the Flat Optics theory for surface waves for both isotropic and anisotropic MTS, deriving the basic relations between ray-paths, ray velocity and transport of energy for both isotropic and anisotropic boundary conditions. The relationship with Transformation Optics is discussed.

CMOS and SiGe RFICs for Microwave and MM-Wave Phased Arrays

• Thursday, 30 April 2015
• EEMSC Building, Lecture Hall Pi

Gabriel M. Rebeiz, University of California, San Diego

This talk will present the latest work on microwave and mm-wave phased arrays and imaging systems at UCSD. The talk shows that one can build large phased arrays on a single chip covering distinct frequency bands, from 2 GHz to > 94 GHz, using commercial CMOS and SiGe processes. Typical designs include an 8-element 8-16 GHz SiGe phased array receiver, a 16-element Tx/Rx phased array at 42-48 GHz with 5-bit amplitude and phase control, and a 16-element Rx phased array at 77-84 GHz which includes a built-in-self-test system Also, an 8-20 GHz digital beam-former chip capable of multiple-beam operation and with high immunity to interferers will also be presented. IN terms of wafers-scale designs, 94 GHz and 110 GHz wafer-scale phased arrays will also be presented including high efficiency antennas. It will be shown that SiGe and CMOS has changed the way we think about phased arrays and imaging systems.

Gabriel M. Rebeiz
Distinguished Professor
Wireless Communications Industry Chair
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
The University of California, San Diego
rebeiz@ece.ucsd.edu

• Sunday, 12 -- Friday, 17 April 2015

EuCAP 2015, The 9th European Conference on Antennas and Propagation

EuCAP is supported by top level world-wide associations on Antennas and Propagation, and provides a forum on the major challenges faced by these communities. Contributions from colleagues from European and non-European industries, universities, research centres and other institutions are most welcome. The conference will provide an overview of the current state-of-the-art in Antennas, Propagation and Measurements topics, highlighting the latest developments and innovations required for future applications.

Additional information ...

MEST Symposium

• Tuesday, 17 March 2015
• 09:00-16:00
• Aula conference center

THE SILICON CRYSTAL BALL

Symposium on silicon technology -?where speakers from industry, academia and from leading research?centers?within?Netherlands and from abroad will cover the latest advancements and challenges in silicon technology.

Speakers

• P. de Jager( ASML) Lithography beyond EUV
• E. Vreugdenhil (ASML) 3D-NAND Flash: vertical stacking of new thin-film gate-all-around transistors
• M. Pelgrom (PelgromConsulting) Statistical design has the future
• Z. Tokei (IMEC) Wiring in 3D
• F. Rosenboom (TU Eindhoven) Plasma etching for continued semiconductor scaling
• S. Hamdioui (TU Delft) Computing for Data-Intensive Applications: Beyond CMOS and beyond Von Neumann
• J. Dorgelo (Marvell) Terabit NAND Flash comes with advanced error correction

Open to all

It is FREE for all?Msc, PhD, PD and Professors in Micro-electronics, Computer engineering and Telecommunications. Don't forget to REGISTER?at?www.mest-delft.nl

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Sensor Data Fusion @ Fraunhofer FKIE: Surveillance and Protection for Defence and Security Applications

• Friday, 6 March 2015
• 09:00-10:00
• TBD

Dr. Wolfgang Koch from FKIE, Bonn
Fraunhofer FKIE, Bonn, Germany

Advanced algorithms to effectively exploit data streams from heterogeneous sources and optimally manage available sensor and unmanned platforms are of crucial importance. The talk will provide an overview of both, methodological work and advanced applications at Fraunhofer FKIE. We will place emphasis on exact track-to-track fusion, multistatic exploration and passive surveillance, aspects of resources management, and fusion tasks with unmanned aerial vehicles.

PhD Thesis Defence

• Thursday, 5 March 2015
• 12:00-11:30
• Aula Senaatszaal

Sensor management for surveillance and tracking. An operational perspective. March 5, 12.00 Aula, Senaatszaal. Promotor A. Yarovoy, co- promotor, H. Driessen

Fotios Katsilieris

Defence, March 5, 12.00 Aula, Senaatszaal. Sensor management for surveillance and tracking. An operational perspective. In the literature, several approaches to sensor (including radar) management can be found. These can be roughly grouped into: a) rule-based or heuristics; b) task-based; c) information-driven; and d) risk/threat-based. These approaches are compared in this dissertation and it is found that there is not a single approach that is both Bayes-optimal and takes into account explicitly the user requirements in different operational contexts. In order to overcome the challenges with the existing approaches, this dissertation proposes managing the uncertainty in higher-level quantities (as per the JDL model) that are directly of interest to an operator and directly related to the operational goal of a radar system. The proposed approach is motivated by the threat assessment process, which is an integral part of defence missions. Accordingly, a prominent example of a commonly used higher-level quantity is the threat-level of a target. The key advantage of the proposed approach is that it results in Bayes-optimal sensor control that also takes into account the operational context in a model-based manner. In other words: a) a radar operator can select the aspects of threat that are relevant to the operational context at hand; and b) external information about the arrival of targets and other scenario parameters can be included when defining the models used in the signal processing algorithms, leading to context-adaptive sensor management.

Additional information ...

• Friday, 20 February 2015
• 12:30-13:30
• EEMCS faculty Timmanzaal

The working mechanism of superconducting single photon detectors

Presentation: Jelmer Renema, Huygens-Kamerlingh Onnes lab, Leiden, NL

Superconducting single photon detectors (SSPDs) are of great technological importance, yet their working mechanism is still poorly understood. In this talk, I will present our results on this problem. I will show experimentally that a combination of a broad band of weakened superconductivity and the crossing of a vortex are responsible for the detection event. Furthermore, I will discuss the temperature dependence of the detection mechanism which is of great importance for applications.

• Friday, 12 December 2014
• HB 14.240

Kinetic Inductance Detectors: applications to millimeter Astronomy and Particle Physics

Antonio D?Addabbo
Intstutut N?el (Grenoble).

Kinetic Inductance Detectors (KID) have recently drawn the attention of the low-temperature detectors community. High sensitivity, low fabrication complexity, small time constant and most notably the intrinsic capability of frequency multiplexed readout open new possibilities for experiments which need large format arrays of ultra sensitive detectors. In millimeter Astronomy, the New IRAM KID Array (NIKA) instrument is today the most striking demonstration of this. It is a dual band hundreds-pixels KID based camera permanently installed at the focal plane of the IRAM 30-m telescope of Pico Veleta. Thanks to the NIKA observational campaigns, the NIKA collaboration could demonstrate performances comparable to the state-of-art of bolometers. The instrument is today open to the astronomers community. The will to extend KID technology to space mission demands a careful investigation of their interaction with the Cosmic Rays (CR). The understanding of the physics of high-energy interactions in the substrate of our arrays is crucial in order to optimize the KID performances in space environment. In the framework of the european SPACEKIDS project, this led us to implement a fully independent multiplexed readout system for the phonon-mediated particle detection with KID arrays. Moreover, using radioactive sources to simulate the primary CR hits, we studied the energy propagation induced by such interactions. The laboratory tests show promising results in damping the phonon propagation over distance and encourage deeper studies.

Terahertz Sensing group seminar

• Friday, 28 November 2014
• 12:00-13:00
• Meeting Room HB 14.240

Group Meeting Presentation

Dielectric lenses fed by wideband antenna feeds are widely used for the applications such as radio astronomy and space observation. For such applications, as a reflector feeder,it is often required to maintain the illumination of the reflector as constant as possible at all frequencies within the large band of operation. Reflector feeds that can operate with high aperture efficiency over wide frequency ranges have been previously developed for low-frequency radio telescopes. Some examples are the focal plane array of tapered slot antennas and the eleven antenna. However, there is currently a need for wideband reflector feeds also at much higher frequencies, for Terahertz (THz) and mm-wave space instruments.

Another application for the dielectric lenses could be to use them directly as a THz imager with as many pixels as possible such that each pixel is associated to an independent beam generated by the lens antenna. In the scenario, it is very desirable to maintain the same field of coverage in order to avoid jiggling which decreases the imaging speed. To do so, it is required make a novel imager design that is able provide stable radiation patterns within the frequency band of operation.

Additional information ...

Tera-Hertz Sensing Group Meeting

• Friday, 31 October 2014
• 12:00-14:00
• EEMSC HB 14.240

Distributed Power Absorbers under THz Focusing Systems

Beatriz Blázquez

Linearly polarized electromagnetic absorbers are often used in THz Space and Earth observation science as means of power detection. A promising use of these absorbers is in LEKIDs (Lumped Elements Kinetic Inductance Detectors). These detectors are absorber-based KIDs. In realistic scenarios, absorbers are hosted in the focal plane of focusing systems as it can be reflectors and lenses. An analytical spectral model able to accurately and efficiently characterize absorbers distributed in the focal plane of focusing THz systems is presented. The model is obtained by using a Fourier Optics representation of the electromagnetic field in the focal plane in conjunction with an equivalent network representation for the interaction of plane waves with distributed absorbers. The model has been validated by comparisons with numerical full-wave simulations, and used to design a few architectures based on lens coupled Kinetic Inductance Detectors, which show high absorption efficiency over a large bandwidth.

Additional information ...

Large format, background limited arrays of Kinetic Inductance Detectors for far-IR astronomy

• Friday, 17 October 2014
• EEMCS faculty Timmanzaal

Jochem Baselmans

The sub-mm wavelength band (from roughly 100 GHz to 10 THz) contains a large fraction of light emitted in the universe. However, observations are sparse, part due to the lack of good observation sites but especially due to the lack of available technology. Microwave Kinetic Inductance Detectors (MKIDs), proposed 10 years ago, could open up a new era in sub-mm astronomy as they allow 10-100x larger instruments than the present 1000 pixel class systems available. The goal of the Dutch MKID development is to reach the sensitivity only limited by the background radiation of the universe. This is called photon noise limited sensitivity (or BLIP). A part from photon noise, MKIDs also suffer from intrinsic noise, due to random generation and creation of excitations, but this contribution is small. In this presentation I will explain the need and status of sub-mm astronomy, explain the fundamental limits of MKIDs and explain the concept of photon noise limited radiation detection.

Additional information ...

International Radar Conference 2014, Lille, France

• Monday, 13 -- Friday, 17 October 2014
• Lille, France

Alexander Yarovoy, François Le Chevalier, Fotios Katsilieris, Nikita Petrov, Alexey Narykov, Oleg Krasnov

The French SEE Society (Soci?t? de l'Electricit?, de l'Electronique, et des Technologies de l'Information et de la Communication) organises RADAR 2014 in Lille, from 13 to 17 of October 2014. The conference will be organized in the frame of the international relations set up between the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the Chinese Institute of Electronics (CIE), the Institution of Engineers Australia (IEAust) and the SEE.

Additional information ...

• Sunday, 14 -- Friday, 19 September 2014
• Tucson USA

39th International Conference on Infrared, Millimeter, and Terahertz Waves (IRMMW-Thz) Tucson 2014

The IRMMW-THz technical exhibit has become an important occasion to exchange information and to showcase new products and services. The 39th Conference, to be held in the Student Union of the University of Arizona between Sept. 14-19th, 2014 offers an excellent chance to interact with hundreds of participants from all over the world.

The Technical Exhibit will be held in the large open forum space, which will also be used for the daily poster sessions, the refreshment breaks, and a pass through to 4 of the surrounding main lecture halls. There will be ample opportunity for exhibitors to interact with conference attendees

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Introduction to Asymptotic High Frequency Ray and Incremental Techniques for Modeling the Field Scattered by Electrically Large

• Friday, 12 September 2014
• Colloquium room 17th floor

Giorgio Carluccio

Modern applications of electromagnetic theory often require the prediction of wave propagation and diffraction in large complex environments. Typical examples of interest involve the performance prediction of antennas placed on aircrafts, naval platform, satellites, or the prediction of propagation of radiated fields from a base station to users in presence of large buildings as in the case of urban wireless communication, or in the presence of large mountains in a rural environment, etc. Another application of interest of electromagnetic theory is the calculation of the Radar Cross Section of objects that are large in terms of the wavelength (airplane, ships, etc.). Full wave numerical methods become intractable for solving such large problems. Conversely, asymptotic high frequency ray and incremental techniques are efficient for treating these kind of problems accurately. Furthermore, they also provide a simple physical picture of the radiation and diffraction mechanisms involved. An overview of asymptotic high frequency techniques and some relevant recent results will be presented.

Additional information ...

• Wednesday, 10 September 2014
• 17:00-19:00
• /pub (EWI basement)

MEST welcome drink

Meet and greet your friends and colleagues with a FREE Drink to say Hallo !!!

Organized by MEST student association

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Conferences

• Sunday, 6 -- Friday, 11 July 2014
• Memphis USA

International Symposium on Antennas and Propagation

The symposium and meeting are cosponsored by the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society (AP-S) and the U.S. Committee of the International Union of Radio Science (USNC-URSI) Commissions A, B, C, D, E, F, G, and K. The joint meeting is intended to provide an international forum for the exchange of information on state-of-the-art research in antennas, propagation, electromagnetics, and radio science.

Additional information ...

EUCAP14 conference on antennas and propagation

• Sunday, 6 -- Tuesday, 8 April 2014
• The Hague

Abstract submission: 13 Oct 2013

Conference dates: 6-8 April 2014

Application areas:

• Fundamental research
• Satcom on-the-move terminal antennas
• Navigation, localisation, positioning and tracking
• Cellular mobile communications (includes: base station, handheld devices)
• Machine to machine, internet on devices
• Wireless networks (includes: WLAN, indoor communication)
• High data-rate transfer and backbone networks
• RFID and sensor networks
• Biomedical (includes: human body interaction, on-body antennas, electromagnetic exposure and interactions)
• Satellite communications
• Satellite passive and active remote sensing
• RADAR
• Radio astronomy
• Signal and image processing
• Defense and security
• Short-range Giga-bit communications
• Commercial software

Additional information ...