Principal aims
The laboratory is fully equipped to carry out research activities related to various aspects of Microelectronics and Microsystems. It is equipped with state of the art instrumentation to allow the design and a complete electrical and optical characterization of photonic and electronic devices integrated in silicon microchips. It is partly housed in a clean room with control of environmental contamination, ISO 8 certified, in order to make the environment suitable for the technological processes and to run the experimental set-ups. The staff involved work in constant and close cooperation with other research units from both the world of public research and industrial research, and is involved in important national and international projects. The same laboratory is also fully equipped to carry out various research activities ranging from CMOS microchip design, the use of microcontroller for the design of innovative wireless sensors, the development of systems for energy harvesting, and power converters for applications in the field of renewable energies.
A significant part of the laboratory is also dedicated to educational activities, primarily intended for members of the Master of Science in Information Engineering and Master of Science in Electronic Engineering. This area is equipped with all the necessary equipments to enable students to approach concretely to the electronics design and subsequent implementation and testing of analog and digital electronic circuits.
The CAD software tools within the Electronics Laboratory are the same normally used in companies that deal with high-performance electronic circuit design.
Research activities
Manufacturing processes for silicon to the study of innovative photonic devices for telecommunication based on the use of fiber optic systems, from the characterization of the electro-optical properties of new materials, to the design of new components and circuits for the management of large electric powers, from the design of power systems to full-custom wireless sensors integrated on microchips. In particular, these microchips are capable of transmitting wirelessly, via a transmitter and an antenna integrated on board, the same chip.
The main activities currently underway can be summarized with the following:
- CMOS Photonics: photonic integration capabilities on conventional microchips, and in particular the study of the optoelectronic properties of silicon and the design of light modulators compatible with CMOS technology
- New power devices and circuits: analysis, design and experimental characterization of electronic components based on wide-gap semiconductors for power applications and experimental analysis of the characteristics of power conversion circuits. Application details: electric car, grid connection of photovoltaic and wind power plants.
- Study of techniques and design of circuits for 3D localization: gestural interfaces with low cost and high accuracy, based on ultrasound
- Energy harvesting systems from light sources or Radio Frequency
- Design and characterization of microchip sensors with RF transmission section
- Designing of converters and inverters for power electronics
- Design of Microcontroller-based Wireless sensors
International relationships
TUH-Technical University of Hamburg (D), CNRS-Institut des Nanotechnologies de Lyon (F), University of Surrey (UK), Universidad Politecnica de Valencia (E), LETI-Grenoble (F), DIMES-Delft Institute of Technology (NL), Université Paris-Sud (F), University of Biskra (Algeria)
Smart Specialisation Strategy Calabria (S3 Calabria)
ICT e Terziario innovativo / ICT and Innovative Tertiary
