Spotlight on ECE Professor Omeed Momeni's THz/mm-wave Circuit Research
Quick Summary
- Momeni's lab builds silicon on-chip THz/mm-wave systems
“When I started working in this field, almost 13 years ago, the THz/mm-wave spectrum was one of the least-tapped frequency bands,” reflects UC Davis electrical and computer engineering (ECE) professor Omeed Momeni.
As a circuit and system designer Momeni finds this line of work exciting. Many innovative structures and ideas are needed to make circuits operational at that frequency range, and the potential future applications are promising.
“For example, unprecedented high-speed wireless communication is possible, such as 5G and 6G. Other cool applications are compact/low-cost/high-resolution sensors, imagers and radars. Also, some examples that are already commercial products are the millimeter-wave scanners in the airport and millimeter-wave automotive radar.”
Momeni sees silicon as the ideal platform for high-performance, on-chip THz/mm systems. “Silicon is one of the most accessible and cost-effective technologies today. Usually, if something can be built in silicon, it will be.”
There are some limitations to silicon-based systems. The output power, range of available operation frequencies, and noise level will not be sufficient for all high-end applications. But many consumer electronic applications can be implemented in silicon.
“My research goal is to innovate and explore circuit/system level techniques to make silicon-based electronics the default platform for future applications at THz/mm-wave frequencies,” says Momeni.
Momeni’s lab has recently received funding from the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research to miniaturize leaf sensors to enable precision irrigation. They are building a small low-power sensor that can be easily attached to the back of a leaf and monitor its water content for a few months without needing to be recharged. They hope this device will reduce the water usage on farms by letting farmers know before they inadvertently overwater plants.
“We have already tested a preliminary version of this sensor and it achieved record resolution and accuracy of measurement. The next steps are to increase the frequency of its measurements and reduce its size and power consumption,” says Momeni.
The lab has also designed a low-power transceiver that can operate at 18 Gb/s which is orders of magnitude higher than what 5G can offer us today and plans to present it at an upcoming conference.
When asked what he would do with a blank check to fund further research in his field, Momeni said that he would create a center that would fund researchers around the world to develop new applications and systems for frequencies above 100GHz.
“I would personally focus on high-speed communications and precision sensing as I think it is the future of industry.”
He expresses appreciation for UC Davis’ ECE department and the role the university community has played in furthering his research.
“UCD’s ECE department has been long known for quality research and teaching regarding circuits and microwave technology. I’ve had plenty of opportunities to collaborate and hire high-quality, motivated graduate students. Moreover, the shared equipment in the department has been invaluable for us in building and characterizing our high-frequency circuits and systems. The faculty are also very supportive and appreciative of our research and progress.”
