Seminar, May 16: Novel Materials and Composites for RF Antennas and Devices

Novel materials and composites have been increasingly applied in radio frequency (RF) antennas and electronics to realize exceptional device functions, such as spectral nonreciprocity, device flexibility and miniaturization.  This talk focuses on three RF applications, namely magnetic photonic crystals (MPCs), flexible antennas and circuits, and surface acoustic wave sensors. Specifically, volumetric MPCs are composed of 15 unit cells of low-loss dielectric layers and biased magnetic layers.  Close to the MPC’s stationary inflection point, nonreciprocal transmission was observed, indicating concurrent wave slow-down by 40 times.  Flexible antennas and circuits are consisted of embroidered conductive metal-polymer fibers (E-fiber) on low-loss polymer composites. The E-fibers are consisted of high strength and flexible polymer fiber cores and conductive metallic coatings. Basic RF prototypes were fabricated and exhibited excellent electromagnetic properties, comparable with their copper counterparts. RF SAW sensors are composed of nano-scaled interdigital transducers and reflectors, and were precisely fabricated using electron beam lithography on piezoelectric substrates. Their performances were characterized using probe stations and in good agreement with simulation.  Fabrication, characterization and evaluation of these novel materials and devices will be discussed in detail during the talk, as well as future work plans.

Dr. Lanlin Zhang received her BS in Materials Science from Fudan University (Shanghai, China) in 2003, and PhD in Materials Science and Engineering from The Ohio State University in 2008. She carried out researches on low-loss dielectric and magnetic materials, anisotropic composite materials for radio frequency applications.  After graduation, she joined The ElectroScience Lab, and continues her work on design, fabrication, characterization and application of advanced materials and composites for radio frequency electronics.  These include magnetic photonic crystals, embroidered and printed flexible circuits and nanoscaled surface acoustic wave sensors.  Dr. Zhang has authored over 30 journal and proceeding papers, and also is a co-inventor of patented embroidery antennas.  She is a member of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), The American Ceramic Society (ACerS), ASM International (ASM), and The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (TMS).  She is also a reviewer of Journal of Physics, IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques Society, Journal of American Ceramic Society and Journal of Metals.