Engineering topics
Siles, Jose V.
Publications and source records attributed to Siles, Jose V..
Wafer-To-Wafer Alignment Method
A silicon alignment pin is used to align successive layer of component made in semiconductor chips and/or metallic components to make easier the assembly of devices having a layered structure. The pin is made as a compressible structure which can be squeezed to reduce its outer diameter, have one end fit into a corresponding alignment pocket or cavity defined in a layer of material to be assembled into a layered structure, and then allowed to expand to produce an interference fit with the cavity. The other end can then be inserted into a corresponding cavity defined in a surface of a second layer of material that mates with the first layer. The two layers are in registry when the pin is mated to both. Multiple layers can be assembled to create a multilayer structure. Examples of such devices are presented.
Silicon Alignment Pins: An Easy Way to Realize a Wafer-To-Wafer Alignment
A silicon alignment pin is used to align successive layers of components made in semiconductor chips and/or metallic components to make easier the assembly of devices having a layered structure. The pin is made as a compressible structure which can be squeezed to reduce its outer diameter, have one end fit into a corresponding alignment pocket or cavity defined in a layer of material to be assembled into a layered structure, and then allowed to expand to produce an interference fit with the cavity. The other end can then be inserted into a corresponding cavity defined in a surface of a second layer of material that mates with the first layer. The two layers are in registry when the pin is mated to both. Multiple layers can be assembled to create a multilayer structure. Examples of such devices are presented.
Silicon Micromachining for Terahertz Component Development
Waveguide component technology at terahertz frequencies has come of age in recent years. Essential components such as ortho-mode transducers (OMT), quadrature hybrids, filters, and others for high performance system development were either impossible to build or too difficult to fabricate with traditional machining techniques. With micromachining of silicon wafers coated with sputtered gold it is now possible to fabricate and test these waveguide components. Using a highly optimized Deep Reactive Ion Etching (DRIE) process, we are now able to fabricate silicon micromachined waveguide structures working beyond 1 THz. In this paper, we describe in detail our approach of design, fabrication, and measurement of silicon micromachined waveguide components and report the results of a 1 THz canonical E-plane filter.
An All-Solid-State, Room-Temperature, Heterodyne Receiver for Atmospheric Spectroscopy at 1.2 THz
Heterodyne receivers at submillimeter wavelengths have played a major role in astrophysics as well as Earth and planetary remote sensing. All-solid-state heterodyne receivers using both MMIC (monolithic microwave integrated circuit) Schottky-diode-based LO (local oscillator) sources and mixers are uniquely suited for long-term planetary missions or Earth climate monitoring missions as they can operate for decades without the need for any active cryogenic cooling. However, the main concern in using Schottky-diode-based mixers at frequencies beyond 1 THz has been the lack of enough LO power to drive the devices because 1 to 3 mW are required to properly pump Schottky diode mixers. Recent progress in HEMT- (high-electron-mobility- transistor) based power amplifier technology, with output power levels in excess of 1 W recently demonstrated at W-band, as well as advances in MMIC Schottky diode circuit technology, have led to measured output powers up to 1.4 mW at 0.9 THz. Here the first room-temperature tunable, all-planar, Schottky-diode-based receiver is reported that is operating at 1.2 THz over a wide (≈20%) bandwidth. The receiver front-end (see figure) consists of a Schottky-diode-based 540 to 640 GHz multiplied LO chain (featuring a cascade of W-band power amplifiers providing around 120 to 180 mW at W-band), a 200-GHz MMIC frequency doubler, and a 600-GHz MMIC frequency tripler, plus a biasable 1.2-THz MMIC sub-harmonic Schottky-diode mixer. The LO chain has been designed, fabricated, and tested at JPL and provides around 1 to 1.5 mW at 540 o 640 GHz. The sub-harmonic mixer consists of two Schottky diodes on a thin GaAs membrane in an anti-parallel configuration. An integrated metal insulator metal (MIM) capacitor has been included on-chip to allow dc bias for the Schottky diodes. A bias voltage of around 0.5 V/diode is necessary to reduce the LO power required down to the 1 to 1.5 mW available from the LO chain. The epilayer thickness and doping profiles have been specifically optimized to maximize the mixer performance beyond 1 THz. The measured DSB noise temperatures and conversion losses of the receiver are 2,000 to 3,500 K and 12 to 14 dB, respectively, at 120 K, and 4,000 to 6,000 K and 13 to 15 dB, respectively, at 300 K. These results establish the state-of-the-art for all-solid-state, all-planar heterodyne receivers at 1.2 THz operating at either room temperature or using passive cooling only. Since no cryogenic cooling is needed, the receiver is eminently suited to atmospheric heterodyne spectroscopy of the outer planets and their moons.
Ultra-Compact, Superconducting Spectrometer-on-a-Chip at Submillimeter Wavelengths
Small size, wide spectral bandwidth, and highly multiplexed detector readout are required to develop powerful multi-beam spectrometers for high-redshift observations. Currently available spectrometers at these frequencies are large and bulky. The grating sizes for these spectrometers are prohibitive. This fundamental size issue is a key limitation for space-based spectrometers for astrophysics applications. A novel, moderate-resolving-power (R-700), ultra-compact spectrograph-on-a-chip for millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths is the solution.
On-Chip Power-Combining for High-Power Schottky Diode-Based Frequency Multipliers
A 1.6-THz power-combined Schottky frequency tripler was designed to handle approximately 30 mW input power. The design of Schottky-based triplers at this frequency range is mainly constrained by the shrinkage of the waveguide dimensions with frequency and the minimum diode mesa sizes, which limits the maximum number of diodes that can be placed on the chip to no more than two. Hence, multiple-chip power-combined schemes become necessary to increase the power-handling capabilities of high-frequency multipliers. The design presented here overcomes difficulties by performing the power-combining directly on-chip. Four E-probes are located at a single input waveguide in order to equally pump four multiplying structures (featuring two diodes each). The produced output power is then recombined at the output using the same concept.
Local Oscillator Sub-Systems for Array Receivers in the 1-3 THz Range
Recent results from the Heterodyne Instrument for the Far-Infrared (HIFI) on the Herschel Space Telescope have confirmed the usefulness of high resolution spectroscopic data for a better understanding of our Universe. This paper will explore the current status of tunable local oscillator sources with emphasis on building a multi-pixel LO subsystem for the scientifically important CII line around 1908 GHz. Recent results have shown that over 50 microwatts of output power at 1.9 THz are possible with an optimized single pixel LO chain. These power levels are now sufficient to pump array receivers in this frequency range. Further power enhancement can be obtained by cooling the chain to 120 K or by utilizing in-phase power combining technology.