Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

CMC Microsystems (CMC), the University of Manitoba and leaders from industry, government and academia officially opened the Advanced RF Systems Laboratory–the second of four specialized test labs in Canada’s unique $23-million National Microelectronics and Photonics Testing Collaboratory. The estimated value of the RF Lab located at the University of Manitoba is more than CAN$1.9 million. It represents a key building block in Canada’s ‘cyber-infrastructure’, bringing world-class test capability and expertise from Winnipeg to hundreds of microsystems researchers across the country.

Researchers at 21 Canadian universities will use this world-first virtual laboratory and its interactive, multimedia connections to access some of the best available test tools and technologies in the world. Together, the labs that comprise the Collaboratory will address one of the main roadblocks facing university researchers: access to sophisticated and costly equipment required to test and validate high-performance microsystems; a prerequisite for moving new, multi-disciplinary discoveries to market more quickly. Managed by CMC, this pan-Canadian initiative will ultimately provide companies a competitive edge in the multi-billion dollar microsystems and photonics sectors. The future applications of these technologies will benefit all Canadians.

“The Collaboratory brings scientific research into the 21st century,” says Dr. Brian Barge, President and CEO of CMC Microsystems. “Regardless of physical location, researchers will have access to the same advanced capabilities to validate concepts faster, thereby increasing their R&D output and narrowing the gap between technology development and market deployment. Microsystems technologies enable products and services in all sectors from health care to aerospace, energy, automotive, environment, and information and communications.”

“Through the Internet–specifically CA*net 4, a high speed network managed by CANARIE–remote researchers will have the same virtual control as if they were actually in the lab performing the test by hand,” says Dr. Greg Bridges, Principal Investigator of the Advanced RF Systems Lab, and Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Manitoba. “Remote researchers will not only be able to control the test equipment signals and collect measurement data, they will also be able to remotely visualize the chip as seen through a microscope and position the probes used for testing.”

For more information, contact G. Bridges.

The Applied Electromagnetics Laboratories has two anechoic chambers in the frequency range of 500 MHz to 50 GHz for antenna research. The larger one is equipped with an automated data acquisition and compact range measurement system; the smaller one has a near-field scanning system. In addition, to the anechoic chambers, there is an outdoor antenna measurement range, which is equipped for testing large antenna units. The microwave area has two laboratories for high frequency circuit design and measurements research. The measurement laboratory has a Wiltron 360 network analyzer for measurements up to 65 GHz.

The Biomedical Engineering Laboratory includes image acquisition/processing stations, a fully instrumented 3-dimensional human movement lab including EMG acquisition and analysis. A number of facilities are shared with researchers in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. The Department of Radiology maintains a breeding colony of a species of salamander, the axolotl Ambystoma mexicanum. These are being used to analyze the mechanical and electrical components of the development of axolotl embryos, which provide a good model system for normal development and major birth defects in humans. Equipment for computer controlled time-lapse microscopy is being assembled. Software Systems is an area that represents a strong research program in the department. The VLSI laboratory is an important component of the research program in computer engineering, as well as supporting research areas in electrical engineering such as electronics, signal processing and communications. The laboratory includes a network of Sparc workstations for research and education. The laboratory has access to the fabrication of chip designs, via the Canadian Microelectronics Corporation. The current implementation technologies are full-custom CMOS, FPGAs, and integrated sensors. Software CAD packages available include CADENCE, simulators for Neural Networks and many standard university programs such as circuit and logic simulators. There are also facilities for experimental work with mobile robots.

The Computationally Intelligent Systems and Signals Laboratory has a collection of robots (two Kheperas, and a number of individual hexapod and tractor robots). In addition, the Laboratory has two Sun workstations, three Pentium workstations, two PowerPC workstations and two printers. Research is carried out in the design of intelligent systems (both hardware and software), data acquisition and classification of data using a number of technologies commonly associated with computational intelligence; namely, fuzzy measure theory, fuzzy sets, fuzzy Petri nets, granular computing, neural networks and, especially, rough neural networks, rough Petri nets, and rough sets. Research in software and hardware system design and measurement using CI technologies is aided by a number of tools such as Rosetta, Rough Set Exploration System (RSES), DesignCPN, and Matlab.

The department has substantial computing facilities used for research. These include a network of over 67 SUN and HP workstations and six undergraduate laboratories with a total of 84 Pentium computers. A large number of microcomputers are also distributed throughout the department’s research laboratories. These computers, as well as those of individual researchers, are networked by ethernet.

The McMath High Voltage Power Transmission Research Laboratory is the largest of its kind among Canadian universities and is equipped with generating and measuring apparatus, including digital data acquisition systems for research on insulation, HV phenomena and diagnostics. The Data and Signal Compression Laboratory has dedicated and network computers, a high resolution scanner, a video capture facility, a digital camera, a CD-ROM mastering system, and an FPGA development facility. It also has access to a large ATM facility for research.

The Microprobe and Microfabrication Laboratory is a well-equipped laboratory with three faculty members. Topics of interest include scanning probe microscopy, micromachining and microfabrication, semiconductor manufacturing, and high frequency microelectronics and microwave circuit testing. Probe microscopy systems include tunnelling (STM), ultra high vacuum STM, atomic force (AFM), resistive (SRM), capacitive (SCM), and dynamic electrostatic force microscopes used for in situ IC testing. CAD platforms include four SUN Ultra workstations, two Pentium III computers, and G3 and G4 Macintosh computers. CAD tools used are Cadence, L-EDIT and MEMSPro for IC design, and Libra, Spice, Ensemble and HFSS for high frequency modelling. RF test equipment includes 50 GHz sampling scopes, a 6 GHz Network Analyser and on-wafer probing facilities. Microfabrication capabilities include a cleanroom, thermal evaporation, 3 inch mask aligner, wet etching, oxidation furnaces, electroplating, UHV system, and an inspection microscope. Equipment to be added in the years 2000-2001 includes a 1000 sq. foot cleanroom, 6 inch two-sided mask aligner, ICP plasma etching, XeF2 etching, RF sputtering, E-beam evaporation, Alpha-Step surface profiler, 50 GHz millimetre wave probe station, and a wafer saw.

The NSFL is an open access cleanroom micromachining lab established to provide nano-system R&D and prototyping to university and industry researchers. As a central facility, the NSFL links multidisciplinary researchers from many university departments. This 4000 sq. ft. laboratory possess over $4 million of nanofabrication infrastructure, providing a comprehensive suite of state of the art equipment and software for MEMS fabrication, analysis, and testing.

The NSFL has assisted many research groups from across the UM campus, and several outside industry and organizations. Over 300 professors, students (ranging from high school to Ph.D. level), and industry personnel have used the NSFL. Some of the supported research projects have included:

• MEMS for telecommunications
• Gas sensors for industrial and agricultural applications
• Nanoelectronic sensor systems
• Microsensors for magnetic and electric field measurement
• Ultra-thin dielectrics for nanoelectronics
• Microfluidic biosensor for cell diagnostics
• Conducting polymer-based nanoelectronics
• Magnetic, thermal, and electrostatic microactuators
• Micromolding and electroplating
• Coatings for liquid crystal research
• Microfluidics for industrial cooling
• Thin film coatings for synchrotron FTIR microspectroscopy
• Inkjet deposition technologies
• Adaptive mirror technologies
• MEMS for power systems applications

Learn more about the NSFL

The Power Systems and Machine Laboratories are well equipped with several workstations, a real time digital power system simulator (developed at the HVDC Research Centre), a large variable frequency supply, and several well instrumented machine sets. Facilities for developing DSP-based controllers and protection devices are available.