Electromagnetic Characterisation of Materials for Industrial Applications up to Microwave Frequencies - EMINDA

A three year collaborative project between European National Measurement Institutes (NMIs) providing the materials metrology needed to ensure that European industries can take the lead in electronics-related technologies. July 2011 - June 2014.

The project focuses on the traceable measurement of dielectric properties at RF and Microwave frequencies, expanding the coverage of European NMIs in dielectric metrology. Techniques are being developed for characterizing a wide range of industrially important materials over a wide range of scales and frequencies:

DielectricsThrough Workpackage 1-5, there will be research on specific dielectric measurement techniques and the remit of EMINDA is to promote good practice in standard bulk dielectric measurements through our knowledge transfer activities such as EMMA- club, good practice guides and case studies. FerroelectricsThese are an important class of material with many RF & microwave applications, notably circuit tuning. This project will develop methods measuring them under bias in Workpackages 2 & 4. MagnetoelectricsThese materials provide opportunities for the magnetic tuning of microwave properties. MultiferroicsCharacterisation methods for determining the functional properties of multiferroics at low frequencies are well developed, this project will be developing methods in Workpackage 4 that could be applied to the characterisation of multiferroics at RF and potentially microwave frequencies.
SemiconductorsIn addition to mapping the surface complex permittivity of dielectric materials, the Near-field Scanning Microwave Microscopes (NSMMs) studied in Workpackages 1 and 2 of EMINDA can potentially be used to measure the dopant levels in semiconductors. Workpackage 1 will look into this in detail. Thin FilmsFunctional materials and high permittivity materials are typically produced as thin films for use on-wafer in electronic circuits. Workpackage 4 addresses the problems associated with measuring these properties by using co-planar waveguide methods. Smaller ScalesElectronics continue to move towards ever-smaller scales and it is desirable to integrate microwave functionality on the same chip as the processor. So there is a requirement to know the EM properties of materials at both the micron and nano scales. Workpackages 1 & 2 address these requirements. Higher FrequenciesAs communication links require ever greater bandwidth there is a need to have EM material measurements at ever increasing frequencies. This project addresses this requirement by designing traceable EM materials techniques up to 80 GHz.
Active MaterialsThis project addresses the problem of characterising active materials in Workpackages 2 & 4. Higher PermittivitiesMost EM material measurement techniques are only truly traceable for materials with permittivity under 100. This project addresses the problem of higher permittivity materials at low frequencies in Workpackage 5 and at higher RF frequencies in Workpackages 2 & 4.



 

Contact Bob Clarke and Kevin Lees at eminda@npl.co.uk or use our Contact page