Open Competition 2 - Chemistry and Materials

Rapid and Comprehensive Development of Advanced Dielectric Materials for Wireless Appplications

Sponsor: Intematix Corporation

• Project Performance Period: 10/1/2001 - 1/31/2004
• Total project (est.): $3,169,688.00
• Requested ATP funds: $2,000,000.00

Wireless data, voice, and video systems cannot truly compete with wireline telecommunications until new dielectric materials are developed with dramatically enhanced and/or "tunable" conducting and insulating properties to reduce signal loss and interference. Conventional methods of identifying materials of this type are very slow and typically lack any theoretical basis. In a two-year project, Intematix Corp. plans to develop the infrastructure for rapid screening of advanced dielectric materials and apply these improved tools to a novel, combinatorial method for growing thin-film"libraries" of single-crystal advanced dielectic materials. The resulting dielectric materials will be used in design and testing of new prototype filters and miniature resonators -- critical components for ensuring the fidelity of voice and data transport. To evaluate dielectric properties, the company will enhance the sensitivity and speed of its patented scanning evanescent microwave probe, which measures the interaction between electromagnetic waves and sample materials. Intematix will synthesize and screen a large number of continuous phase diagrams, each representing hundreds to thousands of conventional studies, and identify different types of materials appropriate for filters in transceivers and for resonators that can be miniaturized to enhance filter performance. If successfully developed, these innovations will enable the development of advanced dielectric materials at a rate that is 100 to 1,000 times faster than is possible today, at the same time enabling the design of next-generation wireless telecommunications components with greatly reduced signal loss and interference. The project will provide a solid foundation for the third generation of telecommunications devices and spur growth of the U.S. microwave component industry, potentially creating thousands of new jobs. In addition, the new materials could be used to help reduce the size of important semiconductor devices, and the generic synthesis and screening tools could be applied to other industrial problems in materials development.

For project information:

Jim Parkinson, (925) 631-9005
jparkinson@intematix.com

ATP Project Manager

Jean-Louis Staudenmann, (301) 975-4866
jstaudenmann@nist.gov