For this thesis, the use of Liquid Crystal Polymer (LCP) as a system-level substrate and packaging material is investigated. Early in the research, recipes for fabricating on LCP were developed. With this knowledge, RF components were able to be fabricated. These devices include filters, antennas, phase shifters, and RF MEMS switches. To investigate the potential of using LCP as a system-level material, packaging properties and robustness were tested. This research demonstrated that LCP could be used to package something as small and delicate as an individual switch or as large as a 4-inch wafer. In addition, it was shown that MEMS switches could survive well over a hundred million cycles. This demonstrated that LCP could be used to create reliable, high performance systems. The culmination of this research was used to create two variations of a communication module. The first device was fabricated on one layer and a multi-layer approach was taken for the other device. These modules needed to be low-cost, low-loss, flexible, and capable of beam steering. This technology can be used for communication, sensing, detection, and surveillance for a broad scope of applications. To this date, they are by far the most sophisticated SOP on LCP ever achieved. This technology can be further developed to include more functionality, smaller size, and even better performance.

The techniques of optical beam induced current (OBIC) have found wide-spread applications in characterizing many semiconductor and optoelectronic devices. A two-photon confocal microscope is adapted for investigating the dynamics of light emitting devices through the contrast mechanisms of two-photon DC and radio frequency (RF) optical beam induced current (OBIC). For comparison, the 2p-OBIC technique detects the photocurrent signal by exciting the semiconductor sample with a pulsed laser that has a wavelength below the bandgap of the semiconductor. It has high accuracy and spatial resolution. We demonstrate that the bias on the devices (forward and reverse) strongly modifies the DC and RF OBIC signals. Finally we will discuss how to explain this result, and we will provide a program to show the phase distribution of GaP LED.

Abstract¡G This thesis was consisted of two parts. Part 1 introduced the procedure for designing the RF transceiver module in an IS-95 CDMA system using link budget analysis. Part 2 was focused on a CDMA power amplifier integrated circuit design for Personal Communication Service (PCS) applications. The design procedure was introduced in detail and implemented in MMIC for using GaAs HBT foundry provided by the GCS Ltd.. The designed linear gain, output 1dB compression point and power added efficiency (PAE) are above 30 dB, 27 dBm and 36.7% respectively under a single supply voltage of 3.4 V with the help of a diode linearizer. Harmonic components were suppressed more than 26 dB without use of any filters in the output. The adjacent channel power ratio (ACPR) and the VSWR of input port are below -45 dBc and 2 respectively.

In this study¡Awe apply the broad bandwidth and high energy pulse of ultrafast laser to experiment on RF OBIC and second harmonic generation. In this paper a novel method is presented for characterizing high frequency response and behavior of ultra high-speed photosensitive semiconductor devices and the set-up is capable of generating excitation at RF bandwidths of greater than 1.8 THz. In addition¡Athe collagen of dentine is able to generate the second harmonic in the ultraviolet region, so we develop a high performance transmission mode laser scanning microscope for obtaining SHG images of a tooth slice. We also study wavelength dependence and polarization dependence.

Because of the unique architecture of wireless receivers, a designer must understand both the high frequency aspects as well as the low-frequency analog considerations for different building blocks of the receiver. The primary goal of this research work is to explore techniques for implementing high performance RF and baseband building blocks for wireless applications. Several novel techniques to improve the performance of analog building blocks are presented. An enhanced technique to couple two LC resonators is presented which does not degrade the loaded quality factor of the resonators which results in an increased dynamic range. A novel technique to automatically tune the quality factor of LC resonators is presented. The proposed scheme is stable and fast and allows programming both the quality factor and amplitude response of the LC filter. To keep the oscillation amplitude of LC VCOs constant and thus achieving a minimum phase noise and a reliable startup, a stable amplitude control loop is presented. The proposed scheme has been also used in a master-slave quality factor tuning of LC filters. An efficient and low-cost architecture for a 3.1GHz-10.6GHz ultra-wide band frequency synthesizer is presented. The proposed scheme is capable of generating 14A novel pseudo-differential transconductance amplifier is presented. The proposed scheme takes advantage of the second-order harmonic available at the output current of pseudo-differential structure to cancel the third-order harmonic distortion. A novel nonlinear function is proposed which inherently removes the third and the fifth order harmonics at its output signal. The proposed nonlinear block is used in a bandpass-based oscillator to generate a highly linear sinusoidal output. Finally, a linearized BiCMOS transconductance amplifier is presented. This transconductance is used to build a third-order linear phase low pass filter with a cut-off frequency of 264MHz for an ultra-wide band receiver. carrier frequencies.

The 567-item MMPI-2 is the most widely used personality measure; it requires a sixth-grade reading level, takes 60-90 minutes to administer, and reports robust psychometrics. However, traumatic brain injury (TBI) sequelae can cause cognitive deficits that affect test-taking abilities and item endorsement during differential diagnoses of neurological and personality factors. Therefore, this study examined the clinical utility of the shortened 338-item MMPI-2-RF inventory with a post-acute TBI population as a practical alternative. The MMPI-2-RF requires a fifth-grade reading level and takes 35-50 minutes to administer. The MMPI-2-RF also includes revised versions of the MMPI-2 Validity Scales and new substantive scales that may better psychometrically account for personality in TBI sequelae, such the Somatic/Cognitive Scales. This study conducted an incremental validity analysis of the MMPI-2-RF with a non-litigating, post-acute care TBI population in Central Texas. The goal of the study was to explore the measure’s performance, or its ability to capture functional dimensions in a TBI sample. More specifically, the study examined the construct validity of MMPI-2 to MMPI-2-RF Validity and Restructured Clinical Scales, and criterion validity for the Somatic/Cognitive Scales with neuropsychological and neurobehavioral functioning measures. An archival neuropsychological database (N = 60) was analyzed of patients who participated in TBI rehabilitation treatment at a Central Texas hospital. MMPI-2-RF profiles were retrospectively scored with MMPI-2 archival data. Statistical analysis between MMPI-2 to MMPI-2-RF Validity and Restructured Clinical Scales was conducted. MMPI-2-RF Somatic/Cognitive Scales and criterion measures of Weschler Adult Intelligence Scale, 4th Edition (WAIS-IV), The Weschler Memory Scales, 4th Edition (WMS-IV), The Booklet Category Test, 2nd Edition (BCT), and the Neurobehavioral Functioning Inventory (NFI) were examined. Patient demographics and measurement qualities were reported with the sample. / text

The FREIA laboratory is a Facility for REsearch Instrumentation and Acceleratior development at Uppsala University, Sweden, constructed recently to test and develop superconducting accelerating cavities and their high power RF sources. FREIA's activity target initially the European Spallation Source (ESS) requirements for testing spoke cavities and RF power stations, typically 400 kW per cavity. Different power stations will be installed at the FREIA laboratory. The first one is based on vacuum tubes and the second on a combination of solid state modules. In this context, we investigate different related aspects, such as power generation and power combination. For the characterization of solid state amplifier modules in pulsed mode, at ESS specifications, we implement a Hot Sparameter measurement set-up, allowing in addition the measurement of different parameters such as gain and efficiency. Two new solid state amplifier modules are designed, constructed and measured at 352 MHz, using commercially available LDMOS transistors. Preliminary results show a drain efficiency of 71 % at 1300 W pulsed output power. The effects of changing quiescent current (IDq) and drain voltage are investigated, aswell as the possibilities to combine several modules together.

Reconfigurable impedance matching networks are an integral part of multiband radio-frequency (RF) transceivers. They are used to compensate for the input/output impedance variations between the different blocks caused by switching the frequency band of operation or by adjusting the output power level. Various tuning techniques have been developed to construct tunable impedance matching networks employing solid-state p-i-n diodes and varactors. At millimeter-wave frequencies, the increased loss due to the low quality factor of the solid-state devices becomes an important issue. Another drawback of the solid-state tuning elements is the increased nonlinearity and noise at higher RF power levels. The objective of the research described in this thesis is to investigate the feasibility of using RF microelectromechanical systems (RF-MEMS) technology to develop reconfigurable impedance matching networks. Different types of tunable impedance matching networks with improved impedance tuning range, power handling capability, and lower insertion loss have been developed. Another objective is to investigate the realization of a fully integrated one-chip solution by integrating MEMS devices in standard processes used for RF integrated circuits (RFICs). A new CMOS-MEMS post-processing technique has been developed that allows the integration of tunable RF MEMS devices with vertical actuation within a CMOS chip. Various types of CMOS-MEMS components used as tuning elements in reconfigurable RF transceivers have been developed. These include tunable parallel-plate capacitors that outperform the available CMOS solid-state varactors in terms of quality factor and linearity. A tunable microwave band-pass filter has been demonstrated by employing the proposed RF MEMS tunable capacitors. For the first time, CMOS-MEMS capacitive type switches for microwave and millimeter-wave applications have been developed using TSMC 0.35-µm CMOS process employing the proposed CMOS-MEMS integration technique. The switch demonstrates an excellent RF performance from 10-20 GHz. Novel MEMS-based reconfigurable impedance matching networks integrated in standard CMOS technologies are also presented. An 8-bit reconfigurable impedance matching network based on the distributed MEMS transmission line (DMTL) concept operating at 13-24 GHz is presented. The network is implemented using standard 0.35-µm CMOS technology and employs a novel suspended slow-wave structure on a silicon substrate. To our knowledge, this is the first implementation of a DMTL tunable MEMS impedance matching network using a standard CMOS technology. A reconfigurable amplifier chip for WLAN applications operating at 5.2 GHz is also designed and implemented. The amplifier achieves maximum power gain under variable load and source impedance conditions by using the integrated RF-MEMS impedance matching networks. This is the first single-chip implementation of a reconfigurable amplifier using high-Q MEMS impedance matching networks. The monolithic CMOS implementation of the proposed RF MEMS impedance matching networks enables the development of future low-cost single-chip RF multiband transceivers with improved performance and functionality.

This thesis presents a high efficiency RF to DC converter for RFID applications. The proposed circuit has been designed in 90 nm CMOS technology using a single RF source. It exploits an internal Vth cancellation technique along with a leakage current reducer. The circuit operates in two phases: Phase 1, applies a DC voltage between gate and drain to reduce the VDS of the PMOS transistor; and Phase 2 removes this DC voltage meanwhile by pulling the drain and source terminals of the same transistor to the same potential, reducing the sub-threshold leakage current and enhancing the power conversion efficiency. The simulation results show that high DC power up to 8.1µA can be delivered to the load. The PCE has been measured 36.3% at -14.3dBm and can be improved to 54.5% providing an impedance matching network between the source and rectifier input.

This report intends to impart a good understanding of routing modules used in modern transceiver systems. The radar system at RadarBolaget AB needed to have a good routing module for its newly designed transceiver antenna. In this report, studies have been done related to two majorly used routing modules in modern electronics industry; Microwave Circulator and RF/Microwave Switch. First off, different characteristics of routing modules are discussed. After having discussed important design parameters, practical design considerations for two routing modules are presented in a profound way. Theoretical knowledge for both of these two devices is presented in the beginning, followed by their practical designs using standard simulation software like HFSS and ADS. The report concludes its findings in a way that at the end of this report, reader becomes acquainted with ample information to be able to choose the best option available among all of the discussed designs. An FET RF Switch is chosen at the end of this project to be used for transceiver system which should be able to satisfy specifications specified by RadarBolaget AB. This project was carried out by two students of Master Program in Electronics/Telecommunications at Högskolan i Gävle in collaboration with RadarBolaget AB, Gävle, Sweden.