Taming Waves for mmWave/THz Communications and Sensing: From Soliton Resonance to Phased Array

Abstract: mmWave and Terahertz (THz) technology is a key enabler for the next generation communications and sensing. In this talk, I will discuss fundamental innovations in mmWave/THz integrated circuits (ICs) and system based on wave propagation and interaction in linear and nonlinear media. In the first part of the talk, I will introduce a new IC design paradigm for high-frequency signal generation and processing. Based on this approach, I will present 1) a new method of controlling propagation delay in silicon, 2) a passive mmWave frequency divider for the first time implemented in CMOS and 3) nonlinear wave interaction in a 2-D lattice, so called Soliton resonance, to generate the sharpest pulse width achieved for high-amplitude pulses (>1 V) in CMOS. In the second part of the talk, I will discuss a method of controlling wave propagation in a system level, presenting a scalable dual-polarization 94-GHz phased array ICs and their module-level integration with antennas-in-package for a 3-D real-time radar application. I will also briefly discuss my future research directions.

Bio: Wooram Lee is Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering in the Electrical Engineering Department at Penn State. He received his B.Sc. and M.S. degrees in electrical engineering from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) in 2001 and 2003, and his Ph.D. degree at Cornell University in 2012. From 2015 to 2020, he was a Research Staff Member in the RF Circuits and Systems Group at the IBM T. J. Watson Research Center, where he was involved with the development of high performance mmWave phased array circuits and systems and high-speed serial link transceivers for optical communication. He was also an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Columbia University from 2017 to 2020. From 2012 to 2015, he was with Broadcom, CA, where he worked on multi-Gbps CMOS transceivers and data converters for broadband communication in optical, copper and backplane applications. From 2003 to 2007, he was a research engineer at the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI), Korea, where he worked on optical transceivers and links.

Wooram Lee is a member of the Technical Program Committee of the IEEE BiCMOS and Compound Semiconductor Integrated Circuits and Technology Symposium (BCICTS) and International Microwave Symposium (IMS). He received the Best Industry Paper Award (2nd place) from IEEE Radio-Frequency Integrated Circuits Symposium 2019, the IEEE Solid-State Circuits Predoctoral Fellowship(the sole winner) for 2010-2011 and the Samsung Graduate Fellowship for 2007-2012. He was a recipient of the Best Paper Award of the IEEE Radar Conference in 2009.