Advances in Dielectric Materials and Electronic Devices: Processing, Properties, and Biomedical Applications
Sponsored by: ACerS Electronics Division
Program Organizers: Amar Bhalla, University of Texas; Ruyan Guo, University of Texas at San Antonio; Rick Ubic, Boise State University; Matjaž Spreitzer, Jožef Stefan Institute

Monday 8:00 AM
October 10, 2022
Room: 410
Location: David L. Lawrence Convention Center

Session Chair: Amar Bhalla, University of Texas San Antonio


8:00 AM  
Design of Highly Reliable Dielectrics with Cold Sintering: Jake Dechiara1; Zhongming Fan1; Clive Randall1; 1Pennsylvania State University
    Cold Sintering has provided new processing strategies for tuning the microstructure and electrical properties of dielectrics. The thermal stability and performance of these materials can be improved by broadening the relative permittivity and shifting the Curie temperature. Previous studies have achieved this in barium titanate systems by incorporating curie shifters such as strontium onto the A lattice site during CSP via flux chemistry. To facilitate further optimization of electrical properties alternative methods of incorporating dopants into the material will be explored. Size effect phenomenon provides another path towards control over the tetragonal to cubic phase transition. This study will also systematically investigate the impact of size effects on cold sintered barium titanate systems. Ultimately this work seeks to provide a deeper insight into fundamental sintering behavior during CSP which in turn allows for new paths to material design.

8:20 AM  
Designing Novel Dielectric Composites with High Thermal Conductivity Enabled by Cold Sintering: Javier Mena-Garcia1; Arnaud Ndayishimiye1; Zhongming Fan1; Devon Eichfeld1; Christopher Wheatley1; Haley Jones1; Andrea Arguelles1; Brian Foley1; Clive Randall1; 1The Pennsylvania State University
    Cold Sintering Process (CSP) offers unique opportunities to design novel electroceramic composites with materials that are typically difficult or impossible to co-process. It incorporates fillers at the boundaries and among the grains of a polycrystalline ceramic matrix, while preserving their chemical composition by being sintered at extremely low temperatures (≤300°C). The engineered microstructure enabled by CSP permits to consider new local interfacial functionality of the grain boundaries for thermal and electrical transport. In this research project, we aim to design new composites with low dielectric loss and high thermal conductivity while still limiting the electrical conductivity, for microwave applications of high power and high frequency, via CSP. Our research addresses to fulfill the demands of more bandwidth in 5G and 6G communication technology, finer resolution in vehicle radar systems and autonomous driving. Our goal is to achieve a 10X improvement over commercial state of the art low temperature cofired materials.

8:40 AM  
Tape Casting and Optimization of the Slurry Composition of a SiCer-compatible LTCC-tape: Clemens Motzkus1; Beate Capraro1; 1Fraunhofer IKTS
     Silicon and LTCC tapes (Low Temperature Cofired Ceramics) are standard substrate materials in micro sensors and microsystems technology. Established methods of micro-technology, such as photolithography and micro-structuring, thick-film and thin-film technologies, as well as methods of assembly and connection technologies can be applied to both materials, resulting in efficient microsystems fabrication options for various product areas. Through combination of both materials into a common SICER substrate system, micro systems with significantly higher complexity might be developed. The presentation will deal with the development of the slurry and the casting technique of the LTCC tape for the SICER process. There is an in depth look at the goals and benefits of the technology and the processing steps. In order to qualify the composition of the slurry and the green sheets, viscosity measurements, SEM pictures, tensile tests, lamination tests and the determination of other green tape properties were carried out.

9:00 AM  
Non-destructive Evaluation of Inkjet Printed Cobalt Ferrite/Barium Titanate Films: William Flynn1; 1University of Texas at San Antonio
    In this work, ferroelectric and multiferroic films of barium titanate and BTO/CFO core-shell nanoparticles are fabricated via inkjet printing. The development of stable ink formulations and ideal processing parameters is explored. Development and implementation of an in-situ, non-destructive evaluation of the ink post-processing is presented. Printed films are characterized by XRD, SEM, AFM, and dielectric measurements.

9:20 AM  
Tunable Properties of Zinc Oxide Films Using In-situ Reactive Hybrid 3D Printing: Sean Garnsey1; William Flynn1; Matthew Trippy1; Ruyan Guo1; Amar Bhalla1; 1ECE/ COE, University of Texas at San Antonio
     The rise of additive manufacturing and printed electronics has renewed interest in ZnO as a versatile feed material for piezoelectric and optoelectronic devices. Hybrid 3-dimensional digital deposition (H3D) is a multi-material device fabrication technique which incorporates on-line post-processing and imaging. Within this study, a ZnO precursor, Zinc Acetylacetonate Dihydrate, is formulated into an H3D inkjet-printable ink with consideration to jettability, ink-substrate interaction, and crystal growth conditions, and then deposited into films. Processing conditions of the printed film such as ink film thickness, UV and IR radiation, and substrate heating are investigated to yield in-situ morphological control. Characterization of print film morphological, electromechanical, and dielectric properties is conducted. This work has been supported by ONR and the Department of NavyKeywords - Zinc Oxide, In-Situ Reactive Inkjet, Printed Electronics, Hansen Solubility Parameters, UV Post-Processing

9:40 AM  
Leveraging Coupled-Cluster Techniques to Predict Pre-Cursor Material Improvements: Matthew Trippy1; Maximillian Estrada1; Sean Garnsey1; Paul Flynn1; Amar Bhalla1; Ruyan Guo1; 1University of Texas at San Antonio
    Advancements in material science invariably rely on a blending of well-designed and controlled experimentation, with a careful study of the key theoretical principles that define the most significant parameters that present challenges and opportunities for complex, multi-step material construction methods of modern materials and devices. Simulation of expected performance of a variety of pre-cursor materials is explored jointly with the principal investigators of an additive hybrid 3D (H3D) fabrication process for deposition of Zinc Oxide (ZnO) films, in order to accelerate the selection of candidate materials and processing conditions for experimentation. This serves both to identify optimal conditions for desired film properties, as well as to provide continuous improvement in the in-house numerical tools and methods for complex material investigations through prediction of key characteristics of the desired compounds.

10:00 AM Break

10:20 AM  
Magnetoelectric Nanorobot - A Revolutionary Nanoscale Device for Targeted Treatment: Soutik Betal1; Amar Bhalla2; Ruyan Guo2; 1IIT Delhi; 2University of Texas at San Antonio
    World’s Smallest medical robot as the record set on Guinness World Records works on magnetoelectric mechanism in a core-shell hetero-structured nanocomposite. Under influence of remotely applied modulated magnetic field, the core and shell of the nanostructure interact with each other to generate high localized electric field. The magnetic body guides and excites Nanorobot’s propel. The on-demand shell’s electrification gives Nanorobot, a capability to act as an ambient localized electrical field sensor in bio-cellular environment and performs four remotely controlled cellular interactions. Sensing minute electrical energy differences between different cell types, dynamically targeted single cell electroporation, usage of electrostatic force to increase Nanorobot’s propelling speed, and Transport targeted cells to unlimited distance with microscale preciseness in microvascular environment.