Page 39: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (March 2006)

March 2006 39

The push to develop smaller, lighter, efficient, cost effective military commu- nications technologies in University of

Idaho laboratories has reportedly led to some breakthrough research in materials fabrication. Professors Yang-Ki Hong,

David McIlroy, Richard Wells, Wei

Jiang Yeh and Jeffrey Young of the

Microelectronics Research and

Communications Institute (MRCI) have been working to develop thick hexafer- rite films for use in wideband circulator devices essential to military communi- cations. Ferrite is magnetic material comprised of iron oxide and other chemical compounds. It is used in devices like circulators, which allow microwave communications systems to receive and transmit electromagnetic signals simultaneously. In such applica- tions, ferrite films are expected to reduce manufacturing costs, increase microwave communications efficiency and result in smaller, light-weight com- munications devices. Ferrite films can also be used effectively in filters, isola- tors, inductors and phase shifters, which are also critical devices in military sys- tems. The Navy, particularly, has demonstrated interest in materials sci- ence that might lead to improved tech- nologies. Office of Naval Research (ONR) grants support the UI's

Advanced Microwave Ferrite Research (AMFeR) project, which began in

March 2004.

They have reportedly had unprece- dented success in two key areas of the research: the growth of 107 micron sin- gle crystalline hexaferrite films and the fabrication of several wideband microwave circulators for radar applica- tions. The breakthroughs have not gone unnoticed by the ONR, which has rec- ognized, in particular, professor Hong's strides in the development of magnetic thick films. Hong and his students are the first in the world to produce 107 micron thick, c-axis oriented, single crystalline hexaferrite film in the out-of- plane direction. The Navy praised

Hong's results as "outstanding" and has congratulated the team for making progress toward "the Navy's next gener- ation agile-bandwidth RF goals."

Hong's research surmounted many long-standing obstacles in film growth development by considering a wide variety of techniques and materials. "We are dealing with some very fun- damental scientific issues of how to work with magnetic materials in an inte- grated circuit or on a chip," said Young. "This is fundamentally changing the way we fabricate and integrate magnet- ic materials into existing communica- tions circuitry." "We are looking at how to make a cir- culator wider band, so more information can be processed through it; make it more efficient, so we don't lose too much energy in the system; and, if we can, to make it smaller and lighter weight," said Young.

Once the device emerges from UI labs, the technology will be transferred to the Navy and evaluated for use in large-scale shipboard systems, including missile guidance and targeting systems.

The UI team hopes to have a prototype built and tested by the end of 2007.

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Marine Electronics

Breakthrough for Next-Generation Ship Radars and Communications www.feteriscomponents.com

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