Presentation: RF Circuit Reconfiguration Using Phase-Change Switches

Professor Jeyanandh Paramesh, Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA.



Abstract

With the burgeoning number of wireless standards occupying increasingly scarce spectrum, there is an urgent need to develop agile, wideband, interference-robust transceivers. The long-sought goal of such a "universally software reconfigurable" radio remains unfulfilled due to the lack of a CMOS-compatible RF switch of sufficiently high quality. Recently, a new class of reconfigurable RF circuits has emerged based on a new CMOS-compatible RF switch that uses "phase-change (PC)" materials. These materials can be reversibly transformed between low and high resistance states, have low parasitic capacitance. PC-based RF switches can therefore serve as a "more-than-Moore" element that can augment the capabilities of standard CMOS since they can be fabricated in the back-end of line of such technologies.

This talk describes recent advances in RF circuit reconfiguration using PC switches. A background into material choices and switch design considerations is provided, and is followed by a description of the design, fabrication and characterization of several CMOS+PC demonstration circuits that showcase this approach for RF reconfiguration.

Biography

Jeyanandh Paramesh received the B. Tech degree from IIT, Madras, the M.S degree from Oregon State University and the Ph.D. degrees from the University of Washington, Seattle, all in Electrical Engineering. He is currently Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. He previously held product development and research positions with AKM Semiconductor (Analog Devices), Motorola and Intel. He has served on as Associate Editor for TCAS-II and on the RFIC Symposium (2012-present) and VLSI Circuit Symposium (2011-2015) technical program committees. His research broadly addresses design and technological challenges related to RF and mixed-signal integrated circuits and systems for emerging applications.