<p>This thesis considers integration of antennas and active electronics manufactured on the same substrate. The main topic is on-chip antennas for commercial silicon processes, but hybrid integration using printed circuit board technology is also addressed.</p><p>The possible use of micromachining techniques as a means of reducing substrate losses of antennas manufactured on low resistivity silicon wafers is investigated. Compact dipole, loop, and inverted-F antennas for the 20-40 GHz frequency range are designed, implemented, and characterized. The results show significantly improved antenna efficiency when micromachining is used as a post-processing step for on-chip antennas manufactured in silicon technology.</p><p>High resistivity wafers are used in a commercial silicon germanium technology to improve the efficiency of dipole antennas realized using the available circuit metal layers in the process. Monolithically integrated 24 GHz receivers with on-chip antennas are designed and evaluated with regard to antenna and system performance. No noticeable degradation of the receiver performance caused by cross talk between the antenna and the integrated circuit is observed.</p><p>For low frequency antenna arrays, such as base station antennas, hybrid integration of active devices within the antenna aperture is treated. A compact varactor based phase shifter for traveling wave antenna applications is proposed and evaluated. Electrically steerable traveling wave patch antenna arrays, with the phase shifters implemented in the same conductor layer as the radiating elements, are designed and manufactured in microstrip technology. It is experimentally verified that the radiation from the feed network and phase shifters in the proposed antenna configuration is small.</p>

This thesis considers integration of antennas and active electronics manufactured on the same substrate. The main topic is on-chip antennas for commercial silicon processes, but hybrid integration using printed circuit board technology is also addressed. The possible use of micromachining techniques as a means of reducing substrate losses of antennas manufactured on low resistivity silicon wafers is investigated. Compact dipole, loop, and inverted-F antennas for the 20-40 GHz frequency range are designed, implemented, and characterized. The results show significantly improved antenna efficiency when micromachining is used as a post-processing step for on-chip antennas manufactured in silicon technology. High resistivity wafers are used in a commercial silicon germanium technology to improve the efficiency of dipole antennas realized using the available circuit metal layers in the process. Monolithically integrated 24 GHz receivers with on-chip antennas are designed and evaluated with regard to antenna and system performance. No noticeable degradation of the receiver performance caused by cross talk between the antenna and the integrated circuit is observed. For low frequency antenna arrays, such as base station antennas, hybrid integration of active devices within the antenna aperture is treated. A compact varactor based phase shifter for traveling wave antenna applications is proposed and evaluated. Electrically steerable traveling wave patch antenna arrays, with the phase shifters implemented in the same conductor layer as the radiating elements, are designed and manufactured in microstrip technology. It is experimentally verified that the radiation from the feed network and phase shifters in the proposed antenna configuration is small.

The thesis focuses on the development of statistical theory in experimental design with applications in global optimization. It consists of four parts. In the first part, a criterion of design efficiency, under model uncertainty, is studied with reference to possibly nonregular fractions of general factorials. The results are followed by a numerical study and the findings are compared with those based on other design criteria. In the second part, optimal designs are dentified using Bayesian methods. This work is linked with response surface methodology where the first step is to perform factor screening, followed by response surface exploration using different experiment plans. A Bayesian analysis approach is used that aims to achieve both goals using one experiment design. In addition we use a Bayesian design criterion, based on the priors for the analysis approach. This creates an integrated design and analysis framework. To distinguish between competing models, the HD criterion is used, which is based on the pairwise Hellinger distance between predictive densities. Mixed-level fractional factorial designs are commonly used in practice but its aliasing relations have not been studied in full rigor. These designs take the form of a product array. Aliasing patterns of mixed level factorial designs are discussed in the third part. In the fourth part, design of experiment ideas are used to introduce a new global optimization technique called SELC (Sequential Elimination of Level Combinations), which is motivated by genetic algorithms but finds the optimum faster. The two key features of the SELC algorithm, namely, forbidden array and weighted mutation, enhance the performance of the search procedure. Illustration is given with the optimization of three functions, one of which is from Shekel's family. A real example on compound optimization is also given.

This thesis presents the development of CMOS readout electronics for microbolometer type infrared detector arrays. A low power output buffering architecture and a new bias correction digital-to-analog converter (DAC) structure for resistive microbolometer readouts is developed / and a 384x288 resistive microbolometer FPA readout for 35 &micro / m pixel pitch is designed and fabricated in a standard 0.6 &micro / m CMOS process. A 4-layer PCB is also prepared in order to form an imaging system together with the FPA after detector fabrication. The low power output buffering architecture employs a new buffering scheme that reduces the capacitive load and hence, the power dissipation of the readout channels. Furthermore, a special type operational amplifier with digitally controllable output current capability is designed in order to use the power more efficiently. With the combination of these two methods, the power dissipation of the output buffering structure of a 384x288 microbolometer FPA with 35 &micro / m pixel pitch operating at 50 fps with two output channels can be decreased to 8.96% of its initial value. The new bias correction DAC structure is designed to overcome the power dissipation and noise problems of the previous designs at METU. The structure is composed of two resistive ladder DAC stages, which are capable of providing multiple outputs. This feature of the resistive ladders reduces the overall area and power dissipation of the structure and enables the implementation of a dedicated DAC for each readout channel. As a result, the need for the sampling operation required in the previous designs is eliminated. Elimination of sampling prevents the concentration of the noise into the baseband, and therefore, allows most of the noise to be filtered out by integration. A 384x288 resistive microbolometer FPA readout with 35 &amp / #956 / m pixel pitch is designed and fabricated in a standard 0.6 &amp / #956 / m CMOS process. The fabricated chip occupies an area of 17.84 mm x 16.23 mm, and needs 32 pads for normal operation. The readout employs the low power output buffering architecture and the new bias correction DAC structure / therefore, it has significantly low power dissipation when compared to the previous designs at METU. A 4-layer imaging PCB is also designed for the FPA, and initial tests are performed with the same PCB. Results of the performed tests verify the proper operation of the readout. The rms output noise of the imaging system and the power dissipation of the readout when operating at a speed of 50 fps is measured as 1.76 mV and 236.9 mW, respectively.

An X band dual polarized slotted waveguide antenna array is designed with very high polarization purity for both horizontal and vertical polarizations. Horizontally polarized radiators are designed using a novel non-inclined edge wall slots whereas the vertically polarized slots are implemented using broad wall slots opened on baffled single ridge rectangular waveguides. Electromagnetic model based on an infinite array unit cell approach is introduced to characterize the slots used in the array. 20 by 10 element planar array of these slots is manufactured and radiation fields are measured. The measurement results of this array are in very good accordance with the simulation results. The dual polarized antenna possesses a low sidelobe level of -35 dB and is able to scan a sector of &plusmn / 35 degrees in elevation. It also has a usable bandwidth of 600 MHz.

Field-programmable analog arrays (FPAA) are integrated circuits with a collection of analog building blocks connected through a wire and switch fabric to achieve reconfigurability similar to the FPGAs of the digital domain. Like FPGAs, FPAAs can help reduce the time and money costs of the integrated circuit design cycle and make analog design much easier. In recent years, several types of FPAAs have been developed. Among these, FPAAs that use floating-gate transistors as programming elements have shown great potential in scalability because of the simplicity they provide in configuring the chip. Existing tools for programming FPAAs tend to be device specific and aimed at specific tasks such as filter design. To move FPAAs to the next step, more powerful and generic placement and routing tools are necessary. This thesis presents a placement and routing tool for large-scale floating-gate-based FPAAs. A topology independent routing resource graph (RRG) was used to model the FPAA routing topology, which enables generic description of any FPAA architecture with arbitrary connectivity including possible FPGA support in the future as well. So far, different FPAA architectures have been specified and routed successfully. The tool is already in use in classes and workshops for analog circuit and system design. Efficient ways to describe circuits and user constraints were developed to allow easy integration with other tools. Analog circuit performance was optimized by taking into account the routing parasitic effects on interconnects under various device-related constraints. Parasitic modeling allows simulation and evaluation of circuits routed on FPAA. Finally, a methodology was developed to explore the optimum architecture for a set of circuit classes by evaluating the efficiency of different architectures for each circuit class.

With higher frequencies now being used in RFID systems, antennas are becoming much smaller resulting in more space on tags that can be used for innovative array designs to harvest more wireless energy. This master's thesis outlines and details a new methodology for designing and simulating the staggered pattern charge collector, a technique to improve harvesting wireless energy. Staggered pattern charge collectors enable RFID tag's to produce a higher DC voltage from a charge pump circuit by creatively using multiple arrays to increase the antenna power conversion gain without limiting the half power beamwidth. This thesis discusses the basics of patch antennas and charge pumps as well as an optimization technique for the staggered pattern array by maximizing integrated power conversion gain (IPCG). An example of a staggered pattern charge collector is fully specified from design through simulation, in preparation for fabrication. This methodology allows for the staggered pattern charge collectors to be designed, simulated, and fabricated quickly and effectively.

Prototyping new systems on hardware is a time-consuming task with limited scope for architectural exploration. The aim of this work was to perform fast prototyping of general-purpose graphics processing units (GPGPUs) on field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) using a novel tool chain. This hardware flow combined with the higher level simulation flow using the same source code allowed us to create a whole tool chain to study and build future architectures using new technologies. It also gave us enough flexibility at different granularities to make architectural decisions. We will also discuss some example systems that were built using this tool chain along with some results.

Le système nerveux central est la cible la plus probable d'effets biologiques dûs à l'exposition aux radiofréquences (RF) de la téléphonie mobile. Plusieurs études sur l’EEG (électroencéphalogramme) ont montré des variations dans le spectre de la bande alpha pendant et / ou après l'exposition aux radiofréquences, avec les yeux fermés ou pendant le sommeil. Dans ce contexte, l'observation de l'activité électrique spontanée des réseaux neuronaux sous exposition aux radiofréquences représente un outil efficace pour détecter de possibles effets des RF de faible niveau sur le système nerveux. Dans ce travail de thèse, nous avons développé un dispositif expérimental dédié à l'exposition dans la gamme des GHz de réseaux neuronaux et permettant simultanément l’enregistrement de l'activité électrique des neurones. Une cellule électromagnétique transversale (TEM) a été utilisée afin d'exposer les réseaux neuronaux aux signaux GSM-1800 à un niveau de DAS de 3,2 W / kg. L'enregistrement de l'activité électrique neuronale et la détection en termes de spikes et bursts sous exposition ont été réalisées à l'aide de réseaux de micro-électrodes (MEAs). Ce travail démontre la faisabilité de l’étude (culture de réseaux de neurones primaires, enregistrement de l'activité électrique et analyse des signaux obtenus sous exposition aux radiofréquences) et expose des résultats préliminaires. Dans l'expérience principale (16 cultures), il y avait une diminution réversible de 30% du taux moyen de spikes (MFR) et de bursts (BR) pendant les 3 min d’exposition aux RF. Des expériences supplémentaires sont nécessaires pour mieux caractériser cet effet, notamment en termes d'élévation de la température au niveau microscopique. / The central nervous system is the most likely target of mobile telephony radiofrequency field (RF) exposure in terms of biological effects. Several EEG (electroencephalography) studies have reported variations in the alpha-band power spectrum during and/or after RF exposure, in resting EEG and during sleep. In this context, the observation of the spontaneous electrical activity of neuronal networks under RF exposure can be an efficient tool to detect the occurrence of low-level RF effects on the nervous system. In this thesis research work we developed a dedicated experimental setup in the GHz range for the simultaneous exposure of neuronal networks and monitoring of electrical activity. A transverse electromagnetic (TEM) cell was used to expose the neuronal networks to GSM-1800 signals at a SAR level of 3.2 W/kg. Recording of the neuronal electrical activity and detection of the extracellular spikes and bursts under exposure were performed using Micro Electrode Arrays (MEAs). This work provides the proof of feasibility and preliminary results of the integrated investigation regarding exposure setup, culture of the neuronal network, recording of the electrical activity and analysis of the signals obtained under RF exposure. In the main experiment (16 cultures), there was a 30% reversible decrease in mean firing rate (MFR) and bursting rate (BR) during the 3 min exposures to RF. Additional experiments are needed to further characterize this effect, especially in terms of temperature elevation at the microscopic level.

Cette thèse porte sur l’étude des propriétés plasmoniques de réseaux nanostructurés dans le but de développer des applications de bioanalyse. L'intérêt de travailler avec ces structures est dû à leur grande sensibilité de surface, leur facilité de fabrication et leur simplicité d'analyse par spectrophotométrie en transmission. L'objectif était de fabriquer un dispositif capable d'effectuer du criblage à haut débit pour des fins biomédicales. Le premier objectif de la thèse porte sur l’étude des propriétés plasmoniques des réseaux de nanotrous. Une compréhension approfondie de ces structures a permis d’exploiter efficacement leur performance pour des applications de bioanalyse plasmonique. Une solution analytique fut établie pour étudier les modes de diffractions des polaritons de plasmons de surface d’onde de Bloch (BW-SPP). Cette équation a permis de corroborer les observations expérimentales avec des calculs théoriques par rapport au couplage plasmonique des réseaux de nanotrous. De plus, la variation de l'angle d'incidence a permis de déplacer la fréquence à laquelle les modes plasmoniques sont excités. Il était donc possible d'ajuster la position des BWSPP de façon à maximiser un couplage à une longueur d'onde désirée. Cet effet a été exploité avec la technique d'amplification de surface de diffusion Raman exaltée (SERS). Finalement, la sensibilité en surface de réseaux de nanotrous a été amplifiée selon l’angle d’excitation en transmission. Ce gain en sensibilité permet la détection de protéines d’IgG humain pour des basses concentrations de l’ordre du nanomolaire (nM). Le second objectif de la thèse traite du développement d’un lecteur multipuits couplé avec la technologie des réseaux de nanotrous afin de créer une plateforme de détection plasmonique pour du criblage à haut débit. Cet instrument offre une analyse en transmission d’échantillons nanostructurés à l’aide d’une plaque 96-puits pour des angles d’incidence allant jusqu’à 50°. Une nouvelle méthode de microfabrication de réseaux de nanotrous par photolithographie fut établie. Cette technique a permis de fabriquer des réseaux de nanotrous sur de grandes surfaces avec uniformité. L’efficacité du système fut démontrée pour la détection de protéines d’IgG humain, du méthotrexate (MTX) et le criblage d’anticorps de l’antigène prostatique spécifique (PSA). Le dernier volet de la thèse discute de l’étude des propriétés plasmoniques de réseaux de nanodisques recouverts d’un film d’or pour amplifier plus fortement la sensibilité des capteurs plasmoniques. Cette section de la thèse a démontré la performance des réseaux de nanodisques en tant que capteur plasmonique. En effet, les réseaux de nanodisques ont l’avantage d’exciter un mode de Bragg (BM, Bragg modes) en transmission directe générant une bande plasmonique fine ayant un facteur de mérite (FOM, figure of merit) élevé (sensiblité/réponse plasmonique). L’excitation de ces structures en transmission directe a simplifié énormément l’utilisation du robot multipuits par l’excitation à incidence normale tout en offrant une FOM supérieure aux réseaux de nanotrous. Pour continuer, des simulations 3D et une image Raman du signal SERS des structures ont démontré que le champ plasmonique des BM est grandement confiné autour des nanodisques. Ce confinement du champ plasmonique des réseaux de nanodisques à générer un facteur d’amplification SERS de l’ordre de 107. En somme, cette thèse démontre une étude des propriétés plasmoniques de réseaux nanostructurés pour des applications de bioanalyse par criblage à haut débit. Les études rapportées dans cette thèse ont prouvés que le champ plasmonique des réseaux de nanotrous peut être contrôlé afin d’amplifier leur sensibilité. De plus, la thèse rapporte la première plateforme de bioanalyse plasmonique utilisant un lecteur multipuits. Finalement, la fabrication de structures plasmoniques composés de nanodisques d’or a permis de mettre en évidence des propriétés optiques qui peuvent être mises à profit pour des mesures optiques ultras sensibles. / This thesis describes the plasmonic properties of nanostructured arrays towards development of biosensing applications. These structures exhibited several advantages such as high surface sensitivity, ease of microfabrication and simple excitation setup in transmission spectroscopy. The goal was to design a plasmonic device able to achieve high throughput analysis for biomedical purposes. The first section of the thesis covers a study of the plasmonic properties of nanohole arrays. An analytical solution was derived to assess plasmonic properties of the diffraction modes of Bloch-Wave surface plasmon polaritons (BW-SPP). Tuning of the excitation angle allowed for a precise control of the plasmonic signal’s position and an optimal coupling at a specific wavelength. This feature of nanohole arrays was demonstrated for applications in surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). Finally, this section described the enhancement of the surface sensitivity of nanohole arrays through variation of the excitation angle in transmission. Such enhancement of the sensitivity allowed for detection of the concentration of human IgG proteins in the low nanomolar range. The second section of the thesis discusses the development of a multi-well plate reader coupled with the nanohole arrays technology. A custom-built plasmonic reader, designed at University of Montreal, allowed analysis of plasmonic structures in transmission with a 96-well plate for excitation where the incident angle is up to 50° relative to normal. A novel microfabrication technique of nanohole arrays, based on photolithography, is described. This technique allowed fabrication of nanohole arrays on a large scale with great surface uniformity. The performance of the plasmonic reader is demonstrated for sensing of human IgG proteins, methotrexate (MTX) and screening of prostate specific antigen (PSA) antibodies. The final section of the thesis describes studies on the plasmonic properties of nanodisk arrays coated with a gold film. This section described the performance of nanodisk arrays for plasmonic sensing. This structure benefited from the excitation of Bragg modes (BM) in direct transmission, which generated a sharp plasmonic band with a high figure of merit (FOM). The excitation of nanodisk arrays in direct transmission simplified the design of the plasmonic reader while providing a greater FOM than nanohole arrays. Furthermore, 3D simulations and a Raman image of the nanodisk arrays’ SERS intensity showed the confinement of the plasmonic field of the BM at the edges of the nanodisk. Such confinement of the plasmonic field of nanodisk arrays led to high SERS enhancements to a factor of 10^7. In summary, this thesis studied the plasmonic properties of nanostructured arrays towards development of applications for high throughput biosensing. These studies proved that the plasmonic field of nanohole arrays can be tuned to enhance their surface sensitivity. Furthermore, the thesis revealed the first plasmonic sensing platform using a multiwell plate reader. Finally, the thesis describes a novel plasmonic structure with outstanding optical properties; the gold coated nanodisk arrays.