Les systèmes de télécommunications requièrent de plus en plus l’utilisation des composants passifs hyperfréquences. La commercialisation de ces composants nécessite la miniaturisation de leurs tailles, l’augmentation de leurs performances et la réduction de leurs coûts. Parmi ces composants passifs, nous citons le coupleur directionnel qui est un quadripôle destiné à répartir la puissance sur deux ports de sortie, le quatrième port reste isolé. Les travaux relatés dans ce manuscrit ont pour objectifs la conception et la réalisation d’un coupleur à accès coplanaires obtenu à partir d’un résonateur auquel nous avons appliqué des lignes de couplage. Un modèle équivalent approché a été mis en évidence par un logiciel de simulation circuit. Une étude paramétrique a été réalisée à l’aide d’un logiciel électromagnétique 3D pour fixer une règle de conception qui permet un dimensionnement convenable du composant pour un intervalle de fréquences prédéfinies. Un fonctionnement bi-bandes a été exploité pour chaque raccordement de la fréquence. Une deuxième structure de couplage a été déduite en reliant directement les lignes couplées sur le résonateur. Une étude paramétrique ainsi qu’une règle de conception ont mis en évidence un fonctionnement de coupleur mono-bande de cette structure à des fréquences prédéfinies. Une troisième structure qui fonctionne en coupleur a été exploitée en remplaçant le filtre résonateur par deux circuits en méandres. Ce nouveau coupleur à méandres présente des bandes passantes assez larges ainsi qu’un fonctionnement possible en bi-bandes. Ces coupleurs mis en œuvre peuvent assurer un couplage de l’ordre de 3 ; 6 ; 8 et 10 dB et d’un déphasage entre les deux ports de sortie de 180° pour les deux premières structures et de 90° pour le coupleur à méandres. Plusieurs séries de prototypes sont ensuite fabriquées à partir des structures optimisées en simulation. Les caractérisations hyperfréquences de ces composants montrent la performance des dispositifs réalisés / Telecommunications systems require more use of passive microwave components. The commercialization of these components requires the miniaturization of their size, increasing their performance and the reduction of their costs. Among these passive components we cited the directional coupler which is designated to spread the power between two outputs, the fourth port being isolated. The ambition of this work is to study and fabricate a coupler with coplanar access obtained from a resonator where we applied coupling lines. An equivalent approximate model was obtained using circuit simulation software. A parametric study was made using 3D electromagnetic software to fix a design rule that allows a suitable design for the component in a predefined frequency range. Dual-band operation has been exploited for each frequency. A second coupling structure was deduced by directly connecting the coupled lines to the resonator. A parametric study and a design rule have shown the operation of this structure as a single band coupler at predefined frequencies. A third structure which operates like a coupler has been exploited by replacing the resonator filter by two meandering circuits. This new meandering coupler presents a wide bandwidth and a possible operating in dual-band. These implemented couplers provided a coupling factor of 3, 6, 8 and 10 dB and a phase shift between the two output ports of 180° for the two first structures and a 90° phase shifter for the meandering coupler. Several sets of prototypes are then made. The microwave characterizations show the performance of the fabricated device

Les composants passifs hyperfréquences deviennent de plus en plus commercialisés et employés dans les systèmes de télécommunications. La croissance technologique et l’augmentation de la demande des nouvelles applications requièrent de meilleures performances et de moindres coûts. Dans les applications sans fil et notamment dans les modules « émission/réception », les circulateurs sont utilisés pour l’émission et la réception des signaux simultanément à l’aide d’une seule antenne. Les couches magnétiques traditionnellement déposées et intégrées exigent une cristallisation à haute température ainsi que l’application d’un champ magnétique externe pour garder l’orientation des moments magnétiques. Cette orientation est cependant obtenue par des aimants lourds et volumineux. Devant ces limitations technologiques ainsi que la demande de miniaturisation, l’emploi de l’hexaferrite de baryum sous sa forme particulaire devrait permettre le développement de circulateurs auto-polarisés et miniaturisés à matériaux magnétiques composites. Les travaux présentés dans ce manuscrit ont pour objectif d’étudier et de réaliser un circulateur hyperfréquence à nano particules magnétiques orientées dans la bande 40-60 GHz. L’état de l’art expose les différentes topologies de circulateurs dont la topologie coplanaire est choisie pour notre application. L’étude analytique est basée sur les travaux de Bosma permettant de modéliser le circulateur triplaque. Les principales dimensions géométriques obtenues sont ensuite transposées vers la structure coplanaire en 3D à l’aide de l’outil de simulation HFSS. Devant les limitations de cet outil, différentes structures ont été étudiées et simulées numériquement pour présenter au mieux le matériau composite. Plusieurs séries de prototypes sont ensuite fabriquées à partir des structures optimisées en simulation numérique. Le matériau magnétique composite déposé a des épaisseurs de 40 et 100 μm. Les caractérisations hyperfréquences montrent la performance des dispositifs réalisés. Des pistes de recherche sont proposées pour l’amélioration des performances de nos prototypes / Microwave passive components become increasingly commercialized and used in telecommunications systems. Technological growth and the increased demand for new applications require higher performance and lower costs. In wireless applications, especially in "transceivers", circulators are used for transmitting and receiving signals simultaneously using a single antenna. Magnetic layers traditionally deposited and integrated require a high crystallization temperature and the application of an external magnetic field to keep the orientation of magnetic moments. This orientation is however obtained by heavy and bulky magnets. Given these technological limitations and the need to miniaturize, the use of barium hexaferrite particles envisages the development of self-biased and miniaturized circulators having magnetic composite materials. The ambition of this work is to study and to fabricate a microwave circulator with magnetic nanoparticles oriented in the 40 - 60 GHz range. The state of the art describes various topologies coplanar circulators from which the coplanar topology is chosen for our application. The analytical study is based on Bosma’s work to model the stripline circulator. The main geometric dimensions obtained are then transposed to the coplanar structure using the 3D simulation tool HFSS. Faced with this tool’s limitations, different structures were studied and simulated numerically to shape the best the composite material. Several series of prototypes are then manufactured. The magnetic composite material was deposited in layers having thicknesses of 40 and 100 μm. The microwave characterizations show the performance of the fabricated device. Research tracks are proposed to improve the performance of our prototypes

Résumé / Abstract

Atualmente existe uma demanda por sistemas de comunicação com altas taxas de transferência de dados, trabalhando em ondas milimétricas (mmW). Além disso, os sistemas devem ser cada vez menores, apresentando um baixo consumo de potência e baixo custo para poderem ser utilizados em aplicações sem fio direcionadas ao mercado do consumidor. Neste trabalho, é proposto um defasador passivo miniaturizado de baixas perdas para aplicações em mmW baseado em um conceito inovador utilizando sistemas micro-eletromecânicos (MEMS) distribuídos e linhas de transmissão coplanares de ondas lentas (S-CPW). Assim, a defasagem é conseguida pela liberação das fitadas da camada de blindagem da S-CPW utilizando um processo de corrosão com vapor de HF. As fitas liberadas podem ser movimentadas quando uma tensão DC é aplicada, o que muda a fase do sinal propagado. É apresentado também um modelo eletromecânico e RF do defasador, compostos de elementos concentrados, permitindo a simulação do comportamento dinâmico do dispositivos e a mudança da fase. O defasador foi fabricado utilizando um processo realizado integralmente no Laboratório de Microeletrônica da Escola Politécnica da Universidade de São Paulo. Alguns testes elétricos de atuação, demonstram que o processo de fabricação é viável e permitiu a liberação e atuação do plano de blindagem. / There is a demand for millimeter-wave (mmW) high data-rate communication systems. Systems should have small area as well as low power consumption and low cost in order to address wireless consumer applications. In this work, a low-loss distributed microelectromechanical (MEMS) phase shifter for mmW applications based on an innovative concept using distributed MEMS and slow-wave coplanar transmission lines (S-CPW) is proposed. The phase shift is achieved by releasing the ribbons of the shielding layer of the S-CPW with a HF vapor etching process. In this way the ribbons can be allows actuated when a DC voltage is applied, which changes the phase of the propagating signal. An electromechanical model and a RF model were developed using lumped elements, allowing the simulation of the dynamic behavior of the distributed MEMS and the phase shift. The phase shifter was entirely fabricated at the Laboratory of Microelectronics of the Polytechnic School from the University of São Paulo. Some electrical tests showed that the fabrication process is viable and allowed the correct release of the shielding layer of the phase shifter.

The delivery of tunable millimetre-wave components at 60GHz is of research and development interests with the advent of 5G era. Among applications such as high-data-rate wireless communications, high-precision automotive radars and hand-gesture sensing, variable phase shifters are vital components for antenna arrays to steer an electromagnetic beam without mechanical movement. However, present microwave technology has limited scope in meeting more and more stringent requirements in wavefront phase control and device performance for those cutting-edge applications in the millimetre-wavelength range. Although some existing microwave switchable techniques (such as RF MEMS and solid-state p-i-n diodes) can offer ultra-fast speed for phase modulation, their binary beam-steering nature is resolution-limited and thereby degrades the beam-scanning performance. In response to this, continuously-tunable phase shifting can be realised by using tunable dielectric materials such as ferroelectric BST and liquid crystals (LCs). BST thin films can offer relatively fast switching and modest tunability. However, the increased dielectric loss beyond 10GHz impedes their implementation for higher frequency applications. By comparison, liquid crystals (LCs) have drawn attention in recent years because of their continuous tunability as well as low losses especially at millimetre-wavebands. The principle of shifting the phase continuously is based on the shape anisotropy of LC molecules for variable polarizabilities and hence tunable dielectric constants, which allows wave speed to be controlled with ease by a low-frequency field of only up to 10V. However, LC-based tunable delay lines are not well established in the frequency regime of 60GHz-90GHz because of the limited status of LC microwave technology in which most of the LC based devices have been designed for below 40GHz. It is the aim of this PhD research to bridge the gap and address future societal needs based on our group's focus and experience in developing cutting-edge LC-based agile microwave components. In this work, a liquid crystal (LC) based 0-180˚continuously-variable phase shifter is developed with insertion loss less than -4.4dB and return loss below -15dB across a wide spectrum from 54GHz to 67GHz. The device is driven by a 0-10V AC bias and structured in a novel enclosed coplanar waveguide (ECPW) including an enclosed ground plate in the design, which significantly reduces the instability due to floating effects of the transmission line. This structure screens out interference and stray modes, allowing resonance-free quasi-TEM wave propagation up to 90GHz. The tunable ECPW is optimised by competing spatial volume distribution of the millimetre-wave signal occupying lossy tunable dielectrics versus low-loss but non-tunable dielectrics and minimising the total of dielectric volumetric loss and metal surface loss for a fixed phase-tuning range. A variety of influences affecting the actual device performance are studied, experimented and optimised. Fabricated prototypes exhibit wideband low-loss performance and 0-π continuous tuning with low power consumptions and high linearity compared with the state-of-the-arts. Potentially, the ECPW-fed phased antenna array will be incorporated with advanced beam-forming algorithms to develop compact beam-steering systems of improved performances and targeted for ultra-high-data-rate wireless communications, inter-satellite communications, current road safety improvement, futuristic autonomous driving, and other smart devices such as the hand-gesture recognition.

Atualmente existe uma demanda por sistemas de comunicação com altas taxas de transferência de dados, trabalhando em ondas milimétricas (mmW). Além disso, os sistemas devem ser cada vez menores, apresentando um baixo consumo de potência e baixo custo para poderem ser utilizados em aplicações sem fio direcionadas ao mercado do consumidor. Neste trabalho, é proposto um defasador passivo miniaturizado de baixas perdas para aplicações em mmW baseado em um conceito inovador utilizando sistemas micro-eletromecânicos (MEMS) distribuídos e linhas de transmissão coplanares de ondas lentas (S-CPW). Assim, a defasagem é conseguida pela liberação das fitadas da camada de blindagem da S-CPW utilizando um processo de corrosão com vapor de HF. As fitas liberadas podem ser movimentadas quando uma tensão DC é aplicada, o que muda a fase do sinal propagado. É apresentado também um modelo eletromecânico e RF do defasador, compostos de elementos concentrados, permitindo a simulação do comportamento dinâmico do dispositivos e a mudança da fase. O defasador foi fabricado utilizando um processo realizado integralmente no Laboratório de Microeletrônica da Escola Politécnica da Universidade de São Paulo. Alguns testes elétricos de atuação, demonstram que o processo de fabricação é viável e permitiu a liberação e atuação do plano de blindagem. / There is a demand for millimeter-wave (mmW) high data-rate communication systems. Systems should have small area as well as low power consumption and low cost in order to address wireless consumer applications. In this work, a low-loss distributed microelectromechanical (MEMS) phase shifter for mmW applications based on an innovative concept using distributed MEMS and slow-wave coplanar transmission lines (S-CPW) is proposed. The phase shift is achieved by releasing the ribbons of the shielding layer of the S-CPW with a HF vapor etching process. In this way the ribbons can be allows actuated when a DC voltage is applied, which changes the phase of the propagating signal. An electromechanical model and a RF model were developed using lumped elements, allowing the simulation of the dynamic behavior of the distributed MEMS and the phase shift. The phase shifter was entirely fabricated at the Laboratory of Microelectronics of the Polytechnic School from the University of São Paulo. Some electrical tests showed that the fabrication process is viable and allowed the correct release of the shielding layer of the phase shifter.

Ce travail de thèse s’inscrit dans le cadre de l’intégration des films minces ferroélectriques de BaxSr(1-x)TiO3 au sein de dispositifs microondes. Dans un premier temps, les caractéristiques diélectriques des films de B0.3S0.7TiO3 déposés par pulvérisation cathodique ont été déterminées. Il a été mis en évidence l’intérêt d’une couche tampon dans le contrôle de l’orientation des films ainsi que son impact dans l’évolution des propriétés diélectriques. L’utilisation d’une structure coplanaire optimisée a été utilisée dans le but de déterminer les évolutions fréquentielles de la permittivité, des pertes ainsi que de l’accordabilité jusqu’à 67 GHz. La caractérisation du matériau a permis la réalisation et la qualification de l’élément de base dans la conception de dispositifs microondes accordables : la capacité ferroélectrique. Le phénomène d’agilité a été mis en exergue au sein de cette structure.Par la suite, une analyse complète a été menée sur un dispositif de type résonateur. Une étude analytique couplée à la réalisation de démonstrateur a permis de mettre en évidence la configuration nous permettant d’exploiter au mieux les propriétés des films de BST. / This work is dedicated to the integration of ferroelectric BaxSr(1-x)TiO3 thin films in microwave devices. Initially, the dielectric properties of B0.3S0.7TiO3 films deposited by radiofrequency magnetron sputtering were determined. It has been demonstrated the influence of a buffer layer in the control of orientation films and the impact in the evolution of dielectric properties. The realization of optimized coplanar waveguide has permit to determine the frequency evolution of permittivity, loss factor and tunability up to 67 GHz. The characterization of the dielectric properties has enabled the realization and qualification of the basic element in the design of tunable microwave devices: the ferroelectric capacitance. The agility property has been highlighted within this structure. Subsequently, a complete analysis was conducted on a resonator. An analytical study coupled with the demonstrator realization highlighted the configuration allowing us to exploit the properties of BST films.

Les enjeux majeurs des dispositifs hyperfréquences utilisés dans les systèmes de télécommunication modernes sont la montée en fréquence de fonctionnement, la miniaturisation des circuits et l’intégrabilité des composants.Grâce à l’émergence des métamatériaux et à la maîtrise des propriétés des ferrites, il est possible de développer nouveaux dispositifs répondant à ces nouvelles exigences de l’électronique embarquée.Cette thèse développe, à partir d’une ligne métamatériau HIW coplanaire basée sur un substrat de ferrite, un nouveau dispositif hyperfréquence non réciproque de faible encombrement, opérant à des fréquences situées entre 13 et 15 GHz.Les prototypes fabriqués et caractérisés sous de faibles valeurs de champ magnétique, présentent les performances caractéristiques d’un isolateur bande étroite: isolation supérieure à 30 dB, pertes d’insertion inférieures à 1 dB. / The main challenges of microwave devices used in modern telecommunication systems are the increase of the operating frequency, the circuit’s miniaturization and the integration of components.Thanks to the emergence of metamaterials and the control of the properties of ferrites, it is possible to develop new circuits that meet these new requirements for embedded electronics.This thesis investigates, from a coplanar HIW metamaterial line based on a ferrite substrate, a new non-reciprocal microwave device, operating in frequency range between 13 and 15 GHz.Prototypes were fabricated and characterized under low magnetic field. They achieved the characteristic performances of a narrow band isolator: isolation over 30 dB and insertion losses of less than 1 dB.

Ce travail de thèse, qui se rattache au domaine des composants télécom, concerne l’étude de composants passifs élémentaires constitués de lignes de transmission coplanaires alliant ferrite et métamatériaux. Ces composants sont susceptibles de réaliser de nouvelles fonctions en électronique des hautes fréquences en combinant plusieurs phénomènes comme ceux de non réciprocité, des comportements main droite – main gauche et l’agilité en fréquence. Les applications visées portent sur un grand champ de composants microondes comme des antennes, des isolateurs, déphaseurs, coupleurs, filtres - agiles et performants. La modélisation, la fabrication et la caractérisation de ces composants ont été effectuées dans le cadre d’une collaboration entre l’INL et le LT2C. Les outils mis en œuvre dans ce travail comprennent la réalisation de ces composants en salle blanche, leur caractérisation en hyperfréquences (en général jusqu’à 20 GHz), leur simulation par un logiciel commercial de simulation par éléments finis (COMSOL) ainsi que le développement de techniques d’extraction de paramètres (Matlab). La mise en œuvre de ces outils a permis d’appréhender le comportement de ces lignes en termes de constante de propagation et de diagramme de dispersion. Sur le plan pratique, des composants inductifs et/ou capacitifs (capacités à fente ou interdigitées) ont été intégrés à des lignes de transmission coplanaires sur 2 types de substrats. Le premier substrat, diélectrique (Al203), sert de référence, tandis que le second est ferrimagnétique (YIG ou Y3Fe5O12) et présente un effet de non-réciprocité de la propagation du signal dans la configuration retenue. Sur alumine, les valeurs des capacités et des inductances intégrées atteignent 80 fF et 400 pH respectivement. Sur YIG, à partir d’études paramétriques originales sur différentes topologies de structures de test, les effets de non réciprocité attendus ainsi que les phénomènes de résonance gyromagnétique ont bien été mis en évidence. La simulation électromagnétique des structures est validée par un accord correct entre simulations et mesures. Il ressort de cette étude que la non réciprocité d’une ligne sur YIG chargée par des inductances parallèles peut être améliorée jusqu’à 15 dB environ par rapport à une simple ligne coplanaire sur YIG pour certaines bandes de fréquences. Enfin l’agilité en fréquence de la structure de bande des lignes CRLH est établie. Ces travaux ouvrent de très intéressantes perspectives pour le développement de nouveaux composants microondes et sont susceptibles de constituer un socle solide pour une suite des activités dans cette thématique. / In this thesis we studied some passive components based on metamaterials. Our goal was to assess the physical properties of CRLH lines combined with a ferrite substrate. When the CRLH TLs are integrated with ferrite substrate, new properties based on the “CRLH” structure and nonreciprocity of ferrite can be obtained. Samples were processed on dielectric substrate (alumina) as well as on YIG substrate, according to fabrication steps which are described in this work. These samples have been characterized, in particular for the YIG substrate, with and without a magnetic polarization field. 3D Finite element simulation was used to get the scattering parameters. Lastly, dispersion diagrams were extracted from both measured and simulated data.We can get nonreciprocity by modeling the ferrite substrate, and “left-handed” property by modeling the structure of CRLH. The first chapter of this manuscript focus on theories of microwave transmission lines, coplanar waveguides, magnetic materials and metamaterials. In the second chapter, we designed and implemented conventional CPW components as well as stand-alone capacitors and inductors on alumina substrate. We completed the fabrication process in NANOLYON. Then the simulations in software COMSOL, and the analytical modelling approaches in Matlab are presented. The measured, simulated and analytical S parameters are given, the corresponding propagation constants of CPW, the extracted values of capacitance and inductance are given and discussed. The CPW components on ferrite are introduced in the third chapter. Firstly, different kinds of ferrite and the fabrication of components are presented. Then the modelling of permeability of ferrite material is detailed, and implemented in the 3D finite element simulation. The nonreciprocity is studied using CPW components based on ferrite BaM and YIG. For CPW on ferrite substrate, the measured and simulated S parameters, as well as propagation constant are given. In chapter four, the modelling of CRLH transmission line and the CRLH transmission line theory were presented. Examples of balanced and unbalanced CRLH TL are presented and the dispersion diagram is given. Then a parametric study of the components realized on alumina and on YIG has been driven. The geometric parameters were the left-handed inductances, left-handed capacitances and the length of the CPW separating them (CPW2). Both experimental and simulated scattering parameters are shown and the corresponding propagation constants are given. That enables to identify the different frequency bands: left-handed band, right-handed band and bandgap. Moreover, we establish that the band structure of these components can be tuned with the magnetic applied field.

Microwave materials have been widely used in a variety of applications ranging from communication devices to military satellite services, and the study of materials properties at microwave frequencies and the development of functional microwave materials have always been among the most active areas in solid-state physics, materials science, electrical and electronic engineering. In recent years, the increasing requirements for the development of high speed, high frequency circuits and systems require complete understanding of the properties of materials function at microwave frequencies. Ferroelectric materials usually have high dielectric constant, and their dielectric properties are temperature and electric field dependent. The change in permittivity as a function of electric field is the key to a wide range of applications. Ferroelectric materials can be used to fabricate capacitors for electronic industry because of their high dielectric constant, and this is important in the trend toward miniaturization and high functionality of electronic products. The simple tunable passive component based on ferroelectric films is a varactor which can be made as a planar structure and used for electrically tunable microwave integrated circuits. It is an important task to sinter highly tunable and low loss ferroelectrics, fabricate and test the properties of microwave ferroelectric components. This thesis shows experimental results on growth, crystalline and microwave properties of Na0.5K0.5NbO3 (NKN), AgTa0.5Nb0.5O3 (ATN), Ba0.5Sr0.5TiO3 (BST) as well as AgTaO3 (ATO), and AgNbO3 (ANO) thin films. The films were grown by Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD) and rf-magnetron sputtering techniques from stoichiometric high density ceramic NKN, ATN, ATO, ANO and BST targets onto LaAlO3 (LAO), Al2O3 (r-cut sapphire), Nd:YAlO3 single crystals and amorphous glass substrates. Advanced X-ray diffraction examinations showed NKN, ATN, BST films on LAO substrates grow epitaxially, whereas films on r-cut sapphire were found to be preferentially (00l) oriented. Coplanar waveguide 2 µm finger gap interdigital capacitor (CPWIDC) structures were fabricated by photolithography process and metal lift-off technique. On-wafer tests up to 40 GHz were performed to characterize microwave properties of the ferromagnetic film CPWIDC devices. The measurement setup is composed of network analyzer, probe station, and microwave G-S-G probes. External electric field was applied to planar capacitors to measure tunability. Original de-embedding technique has been developed to calculate capacitance, loss tan δ, and tunability of varactors from the measured S-parameters. NKN film interdigital capacitors on Nd:YAlO3 showed superior performance compared to ATN in the microwave range from 1 to 40 GHz. Within this range, the voltage tunability (40V, 200 kV/cm) was about 29%, loss tangent ~ 0.13, K-factor = tunability/tan δ from 152% @ 10GHz to 46% @ 40GHz. The ATN/sapphire CPWIDCs showed the lowest dispersion ~ 4.3% in whole frequency range from 1 to 40 GHz, voltage tunability 4.7% @ 20GHz and 200 kV/cm, lowest loss tangent ~ 0.068 @ 20GHz, K-factor = tunability/tan δ ranged from 124% @ 10GHz to 35% @ 40GHz. BST film CPWIDCs on sapphire showed frequency about 17%, the highest voltage tunability ~ 22.2%, loss tangent ~ 0.137 @ 20GHz, and K-factor = 281% @ 10GHz to 95% @ 40GHz. / QC 20100906