Multiferroic Materials for RF Applications

This DARPA STTR Phase II project is focused on novel voltage-tunable multiferroic heterostructures and components. Deliverables include: (1) liquid-phase epitaxial growth ferrite/ferroelectric heterostructures with strong magnetoelectric coupling; (2) voltage-tunable multiferroic inductors and transformers with large tunable inductance range of 2/1 and high quality factor > 20 within UHF (0.3GHz ~ 3GHz) with tuning voltages of 12 - 20 V; (3) voltage tunable UHF multiferroic bandpass filter based upon voltage tunable RF inductors and RF MEMS varactors with a tuning voltages of 12-20 V, frequency tuning range > 100%, fractional 3-dB bandwidth < 10%, low insertion loss < 3 dB, and P1dB: > 30 dBm. (4) voltage tunable multiferroic RF impedance tuner at UHF with voltage tunable RF inductors and RF MEMS varactors with a frequency tuning range >100% and P1dB: >30dBm with applied voltages of 12~20V; and (5) voltage tunable multiferroic bandpass filter at C-bandwith a tuning voltages of 12-20V, frequency tuning range > 100%, fractional 3-dB bandwidth < 10%, low insertion loss < 3dB, and P1dB: >30dBm. This project will lead to a new generation RF tuning technology, which leads to novel military radios and radars with a giant tunable frequency range.