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| The Microwave Electronics Laboratory is
fortunate to be extremely well equipped for research. Our dedicated laboratory space
consists of three areas in the Engineering I building. The first houses our personal
computers and workstation cluster, as well as the graduate student office space, which is
subdivided into semi-private cubicles. Our second lab houses the microwave and
millimeter-wave instrumentation, device characterization equipment, and the anechoic
chamber. The third area houses our oxide sputtering systems as well as a small meeting
area. All areas are shared by the York and Mishra Groups, reflecting many
complimentary and collaborative interests. |
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All students within our Electronic and
Photonics program gain access to a number of other shared laboratory resources within the
Sciences and Engineering infrastructure at UCSB. These include essential laboratory
facilities for advanced materials growth, device and monolithic circuit fabrication,
hybrid circuit fabrication, device characterization and analysis, and numerous other
high-frequency and optical instrumentation and computer-aided design facilities.
These shared resources are a unique feature of the ECE department at UCSB, reflecting an
excellent working relationship between our faculty and students, and creating a
compelling
environment for creative research. The location is not bad either! |
York/Mishra Labs
High-Frequency Circuit and Device Characterization
| Our lab contains a wide assortment of microwave
and millimeter-wave instrumentation for device and circuit characterization. A 40GHz
HP8722D Vector Network Analyzer and Summit-9000 probe station are available for routine
small-signal scattering parameter measurements on devices and circuits. A second
40GHz HP8722D and Cascade probe station arrangement (shown right) is configured for
large-signal power measurements, using an external 50 Watt TWT source. This system also
includes an ATN Load-pull system for automated large-signal characterization of power
devices. Two HP 8563 spectrum analyzers are available with direct coverage to 26GHz, and
extended coverage to 110GHz with external mixers. |
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There are several HP438 microwave power
meters, three HP8350 20GHz microwave sweepers, three 20GHz synthesizers, and a 40GHz
synthesizer. We also have a Wiltron Scalar Analyzer, and an HP Microwave
Transition
Analyzer for high-frequency time-domain characterization. We have an HP 8970B Noise Figure
meter and an HP8971C Noise Figure Test Set for 26 GHz Noise-Figure measurements. We also
have an HP3048AR Phase Noise measurement system with a HP11729C Carrier noise test set for
operation to 18GHz. |
| For low frequency device characterization we
have both an HP 4145 and HP4155 semiconductor parameter analyzers, Keithley CV meter,
curve tracer, and HP impedance analyzer, all coupled to a Signatone DC Probing station
(Bottom right). Also available in our lab are both cryogenic DC and RF probing systems.
The two cryogenic systems are portable and can be easily interfaced with all of our RF and
DC test equipment. Some of our instrumentation is also available for observing
light-dependent effects on semiconductor devices. |
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Hybrid Circuit Construction
| Several research projects require the
construction of hybrid circuits where discrete devices or complex integrated circuits are
bonded into a secondary substrate (typically a ceramic such as Al2O3
or AlN) which also carries thin-film or surface-mount passive components (resistors,
inductors, capacitors), along with biasing networks and connectors. The Microwave
Electronics Laboratory has a dedicated WestBond
7476B-70B microprocessor-controlled wedge-wedge wire bonder (featured at left), and a Westbond 7372B Pick-and-Place system
and Epoxy-die bonder. The latter also allows for mechanical scrub motion for eutectic
soldering of power devices and MMICs. In addition, the UCSB research clean room
contains a Research Devices M-8A
flip-chip aligner/bonding system. Thin-film processing of the circuits and
antennas is performed in any of our clean rooms. |
- The gentle art of wire-bonding
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- Putting it all together
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Anechoic Chamber
| We are
fortunate to have a dedicated walk-in anechoic chamber for our antenna work. Our chamber
dimensions are approximately 20' x 10' x 10', lined with 4" pyramidal absorber over
most of the sides, and 8" pyramidal absorber on the front and back walls, with some
wedge absorber used in strategic locations to minimize reflections at grazing incidence.
Chamber walls have -40 dB reflection coefficient at normal incidence at 4 GHz, improving
steadily with increasing frequency. We have a custom-built dual-axis computer-controlled
positioner that can accommodate antennas projecting 2ft or less from the center of rotation
(up to a 4ft linear array). The source/detector antenna is mounted on a similar
single-axis positioner, which allows us to make fully polarimetric 3D pattern
measurements. All three stepper motors allow for angular increments of better than 0.02°,
and cover the full 360° range. In-house GUI software controls the positioners and data
acquisition for fully automated measurements. Data is recorded using a 40 GHz HP8563
spectrum analyzer, which provides a dynamic range of better than 80\thinspace dB. Low
noise amplifiers are available for increased dynamic range. A broadband 2-18 GHz horn
antenna is typically used for most measurements, but standard gain horns are available
from C-band through Ka-band. |
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Computing Resources
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Our lab
has excellent CAD facilities for mask generation, DC and high-frequency device
modeling
and circuit simulations. Available software includes L-edit, Magic, HP/EEsof, Spice, and
Microwave Spice. These are running on personal computers, Sun Sparc stations, and HP
workstations, all located in our lab. In addition, the ECE department has a cluster of 30
workstations that are available for general use. UCSB has site licenses for other commonly
used software such as Mathematica and MatLab, and our lab maintains other in-house
software for rigorous electromagnetic modeling of antennas and millimeter-wave circuits
using FDTD. In the equipment lab, several dedicated personal computers are equipped
with data acquisition boards, GPIB boards, and stepper motor drivers for automated
measurements, and are driven by in-house code or National Instruments LabVIEW code. |
| Naturally
we have numerous personal computers are located in the student offices for word processing
and presentation graphics, and are networked to laser printers, a color scanner, and color
laser printer. Due to the large number of students in our lab and the rapidly
changing technology, our policy is to have a shared cluster. Currently there is
approximately one Pentium PC for every two students. |
Shared Resources
The Sciences and Engineering Laboratories at UCSB include many resources for materials,
device, and circuit characterization, as summarized below. For more information,
please also consult individual laboratory sites such as
Clean Room (Nanofabrication Facility)
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- Our research clean room is geared towards fabrication of compound semiconductor devices
and quantum structures.
 | Class-100 lithography (conventional, holographic, and E-beam) |
| Class-10,000 processing space |
In addition, we have a dedicated teaching clean room (pictured left) for training new
students.
See also Clean Room
Facility and Map |
Femtosecond Laser Laboratory:
| Mode-locked Nd: YAG pumped dye laser for sub-picosecond probing of optical properties |
| Ultrahigh-bandwidth optical components--optical spectrum analyzer and a superconductive
70 GHz sampling scope |
High-Resolution Photoluminescence Laboratory:
| Ar, Kr dye and Ti-sapphire pumping lasers |
| Single and double monochromators |
| Complete data acquisition |
| Routine 2 K-to-room temperature operation |
High-Speed Measurement Laboratory:
| HP8510C network analyzer with capability to 110 GHz, along with a custom wafer-probing
station |
| HP 8510B 40 GHz automatic network analyzer with a Cascade Microwave Probe Station |
| 70 GHz Hypres superconducting oscilloscope |
| HP 54121 20 GHz digitizing oscilloscope |
| Various spectrum analyzers, sweepers, synthesizers, power meters. |
Materials Chemistry Laboratory
| In situ X-ray diffraction |
| High-vacuum deposition synthesis |
| Inert atmosphere synthetic capabilities |
| Near IR and VIS/UV transmission and diffuse reflectance spectroscopy |
| Autoclave and hydrothermal synthesis |
| Emission luminescence and nonlinear optic characterization |
| Single crystal X-ray diffraction |
Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) Laboratory:
| 2 Varian modular Gen II machines with an in situ processing chamber, providing the
capability for substrate reactive cleaning, etching, and maskless patterning between
crystal growth sequences |
Optoelectronics Device Laboratory:
| Laser assisted dry etching capability for material and spatially selective etching |
| Commercial spectrophotometer |
| Electro-optical probing station that uses tunable Ti-sapphire laser and has |
| Millimeter bandwidth electrical probes |
| Fiber optics bench with self-heterodyne laser linewidth measurement apparatus |
| Bench for studying waveguide modulator properties |
Scattering and Surface Science Laboratory
| Atomic and molecular beam scattering |
| High-resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy |
| Fourier transform reflection-absorption IR spectroscopy |
| Scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy |
| X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy |
| Auger electron spectroscopy |
| Low-energy electron diffraction |
| Quadrupole mass spectroscopy |
| Contact potential difference measurements |
Semiconductor Spectroscopy Laboratory:
| Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope |
| Low-temperature cathodoluminescence and beam blanking capabilities |
| 2 Scanning Tunneling Microscopes |
| A 150 keV UHV focused ion beam implanter system with vacuum-coupling capability to MBE
systems and processing chamber |
| Low-temperature magneto-transport cryostat |
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Surface Chemistry Laboratory:
| Metastable quenching electron spectroscopy |
| Ultraviolet-photoelectron spectroscopy |
| High-resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy, thermal desorption spectroscopy |
| Auger electron spectroscopy |
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