Professor Dr. Renato Negra

Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen
Institut für Halbleitertechnik
Lehrstuhl für Integrierte Analogschaltungen

Dr. Daniel Neumaier

AMO GmbH
Gesellschaft für Angewandte Mikro- und Optoelektronik mbH                      

Project Summary                             

Graphene is the perfect material for high frequency large-scale flexible electronics, because of its high carrier mobility and the excellent flexibility. This potential has already been demonstrated by the realization of single transistors on flexible substrates with cut-off frequencies up to 34 GHz. In addition several integrated circuits for RF-applications, like oscillators, mixers and a receiver frontend, have been demonstrated using graphene transistors on rigid substrate. In this project we will develop a full-fledged graphene-on-flexible MMIC process, including device model and a design kit for commercial CAD tools and build a demonstrator of a wireless receiver frontend on flexible substrate. This comprises exploration of concepts, such as scaling transistors and diodes in order to optimize their performance for frequencies beyond 1 GHz even under different level of applied strain. Moreover, high-quality passive devices will be designed, fabricated and optimized for operation in the communication frequency range. Finally, the realization of a six-port receiver frontend will demonstrate the potential of the technology and the developed MMIC process for a variety of applications.