Project acronym DARWIN
Project Deep mm-Wave RF-CMOS Integrated Circuits
Researcher (PI) Michel Steyaert
Host Institution (HI) KATHOLIEKE UNIVERSITEIT LEUVEN
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), PE7, ERC-2008-AdG
Summary Wireless and mobile communication systems have become an important part of our daily environment. Since the introduction of the GSM-network in the early nineties, different wireless applications such as WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, etc. have been brought into the market. This has become possible due to the high integration of integrated circuits in relatively cheap technologies. Besides the digital signal processing, those wireless applications require complex analog circuits operating at very high frequencies (RF circuits). In the early days these were implemented as discrete components or standalone ICs in expensive technologies such as GaAs, InP and SiGe. Due to the research towards nanometer CMOS technologies, and due to improved RF circuit techniques, RF-CMOS has been introduced since the mid nineties. The intention of this research project is to take the next big leap forward in wireless applications, i.e. the exploration and research, based on the vast RF-CMOS knowledge already existing, towards the Extremely High Frequencies which is above 70 GHz up to 300GHz, with wavelengths close to 1 mm. The research project is a logical evolution of the RF-CMOS research knowledges of the team. For that the "natural evolution" acronym DARWIN (Deep mm-Wave RF CMOS Integrated Circuits (with the M of CMOS inverted (W)) is choosen. Implementing circuit techniques in standard CMOS technologies at those frequencies is again an enormous challenge and will open a lot of new opportunities and applications towards the future due to possibilities in safety monitoring, e.g. collision radar detection for automobiles at 77 GHz, the need for high data-rate telecommunication systems, with capacity of 1-10 Gbps, and imaging for medical and security systems. The goal of the proposed project is to perform the necessary fundamental basic research to be able to implement these 70-300 GHz applications in CMOS technology (45 nm and below).
Summary
Wireless and mobile communication systems have become an important part of our daily environment. Since the introduction of the GSM-network in the early nineties, different wireless applications such as WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, etc. have been brought into the market. This has become possible due to the high integration of integrated circuits in relatively cheap technologies. Besides the digital signal processing, those wireless applications require complex analog circuits operating at very high frequencies (RF circuits). In the early days these were implemented as discrete components or standalone ICs in expensive technologies such as GaAs, InP and SiGe. Due to the research towards nanometer CMOS technologies, and due to improved RF circuit techniques, RF-CMOS has been introduced since the mid nineties. The intention of this research project is to take the next big leap forward in wireless applications, i.e. the exploration and research, based on the vast RF-CMOS knowledge already existing, towards the Extremely High Frequencies which is above 70 GHz up to 300GHz, with wavelengths close to 1 mm. The research project is a logical evolution of the RF-CMOS research knowledges of the team. For that the "natural evolution" acronym DARWIN (Deep mm-Wave RF CMOS Integrated Circuits (with the M of CMOS inverted (W)) is choosen. Implementing circuit techniques in standard CMOS technologies at those frequencies is again an enormous challenge and will open a lot of new opportunities and applications towards the future due to possibilities in safety monitoring, e.g. collision radar detection for automobiles at 77 GHz, the need for high data-rate telecommunication systems, with capacity of 1-10 Gbps, and imaging for medical and security systems. The goal of the proposed project is to perform the necessary fundamental basic research to be able to implement these 70-300 GHz applications in CMOS technology (45 nm and below).
Max ERC Funding
2 042 640 €
Duration
Start date: 2009-01-01, End date: 2013-12-31
Project acronym PROSPERITY
Project Probing Stellar Physics and Testing Stellar Evolution through Asteroseismology
Researcher (PI) Conny Aerts
Host Institution (HI) KATHOLIEKE UNIVERSITEIT LEUVEN
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), PE9, ERC-2008-AdG
Summary Our goal is to achieve a physical description of stellar interiors with an order of magnitude better precision in the physical quantities than we have now. We will concentrate on three outstanding critical issues in current stellar structure theory and solve them through a novel approach termed asteroseismology. 1. We will obtain a quantitative estimate of the amount of convective mixing and of the internal rotation profile for a broad range of stellar masses and evolutionary states, with specific emphasis on massive stars and on red giant stars. This will be done using new seismic data assembled by the space missions MOST, CoRoT and Kepler, which have a factor 1000 better precision than the ground-based data we had to rely on so far. 2. We will include, for the first time, the effect of a radiation-driven stellar wind on the theoretical description of stellar oscillations. This opens a new avenu: the seismic calibration of stellar evolution models of the most massive stars from the core-hydrogen burning up to the supernova stage. 3. We will build a new dedicated camera, MAIA, for the Mercator telescope at La Palma (Canary Islands), to investigate the badly understood common envelope phase of close binary stars. There are large unknowns in their evolution, mainly during the red giant phase when the two stellar components may share a common envelope. The recently discovered pulsating subdwarf O and B binaries must have lost their hydrogen envelope during a common envelope phase near the tip of the red giant branch. We will put tight seismic constraints on their outer hydrogen layer and mass and use these two diagnostics to perform a critical evaluation of close binary evolution theory along the giant branch. Our project encompasses engineering, observational astronomy, theoretical astrophysics, time series analysis and statistical clustering. It will revolutionise stellar evolution theory for a variety of stars and all topics in astrophysics that build on it.
Summary
Our goal is to achieve a physical description of stellar interiors with an order of magnitude better precision in the physical quantities than we have now. We will concentrate on three outstanding critical issues in current stellar structure theory and solve them through a novel approach termed asteroseismology. 1. We will obtain a quantitative estimate of the amount of convective mixing and of the internal rotation profile for a broad range of stellar masses and evolutionary states, with specific emphasis on massive stars and on red giant stars. This will be done using new seismic data assembled by the space missions MOST, CoRoT and Kepler, which have a factor 1000 better precision than the ground-based data we had to rely on so far. 2. We will include, for the first time, the effect of a radiation-driven stellar wind on the theoretical description of stellar oscillations. This opens a new avenu: the seismic calibration of stellar evolution models of the most massive stars from the core-hydrogen burning up to the supernova stage. 3. We will build a new dedicated camera, MAIA, for the Mercator telescope at La Palma (Canary Islands), to investigate the badly understood common envelope phase of close binary stars. There are large unknowns in their evolution, mainly during the red giant phase when the two stellar components may share a common envelope. The recently discovered pulsating subdwarf O and B binaries must have lost their hydrogen envelope during a common envelope phase near the tip of the red giant branch. We will put tight seismic constraints on their outer hydrogen layer and mass and use these two diagnostics to perform a critical evaluation of close binary evolution theory along the giant branch. Our project encompasses engineering, observational astronomy, theoretical astrophysics, time series analysis and statistical clustering. It will revolutionise stellar evolution theory for a variety of stars and all topics in astrophysics that build on it.
Max ERC Funding
2 491 200 €
Duration
Start date: 2009-01-01, End date: 2013-12-31
