Tse-Yu Lin

3D packaging technique on liquid crystal polymer (LCP) for miniature wireless biomedical sensor

This paper presents a novel 3D packaging technique for a miniature wireless biomedical sensor. The end goal of this sensor is for implantation into the eye of a mouse, therefore size is extremely limited. The application makes the packaging of the sensor and control of IC a difficult challenge. The thickness of the unit must be less than 300 microns total. It is demonstrated in this paper that the thickness requirement can be met using novel epoxy interconnects and that micro-vias can be implemented in the package to distribute signals vertically to limit the eventual area of the device. First, the layer-to-layer interconnection between silicon and liquid crystal polymer (LCP) layers is demonstrated using a magnetically aligned Z-axis anisotropic conductive adhesive (ACA). The total thickness of the IC and the packaging layer is less than 150 microns. The resistance through Z-axis ACA represented 1.15 Ω on average for 75 micron pads. Second, 3D transitions through LCP via holes of 20 µm are demonstrated, which are suitable to distribute signals through the small form factor unit. In this paper, we demonstrate transition from an antenna layer through the LCP to a layer above where a rectifier resides. RF power received by a loop antenna on the bottom LCP layer is transferred to the rectifier on the top layer and generates 5 volts of DC voltage. These miniature 3D packaging techniques could make it possible to integrate all components in the small area (500 µm × 500 µm) to implement an implanted wireless biomedical micro-sensor.

210-km bidirectional transmission system with a novel four-port interleaver to facilitate unidirectional amplification

A novel bidirectional transmission system is proposed and experimentally demonstrated using a four-port interleaver to enable unidirectional amplification. Following bidirectional transmission through 210 km of standard single-mode fibers, sensitivity variations of less than 0.2 dB, with a bit-error rate level of 10/sup -9/ at 10 Gb/s, were observed between bidirectional and unidirectional transmissions.

Ultra-thin tag fabrication and sensing technique using third harmonic for implantable wireless sensors

This paper presents the fabrication of an ultra-thin tag for identification and sensing applications in extremely small implantable regions. Particularly, we are demonstrating the capability to create a telemetry system which is implantable in a mouse eye. This system will eventually be able to monitor intraocular pressure (IOP). The small size of the mouse eye presents challenges for surgery and the integration of components. Therefore, there is a need for a device which is biocompatible, flexible, compressible, self-expandable, and thin enough for implantation. This paper demonstrates the fabrication of a thin tag with a self-expandable Nitinol antenna, polymer based embedded components, and high density routing. Telemetry with a small tag implanted inside of the eye is established for the first time using the 3rd order harmonic response from the implanted device.

Sub-cubic millimeter intraocular pressure monitoring implant to enable genetic studies on pressure-induced neurodegeneration

There is often a strong correlation between elevated levels of intraocular pressure (IOP) and glaucoma; however, the underlying mechanisms that lead to blindness are not well understood. The key may lie in the study of genetic factors which determine IOP and lead to glaucoma-related blindness. Mice are typically used for genetic research due to their short generation time and accelerated lifespan, manageability, the availability of established and pure lines, and the ability to manipulate the genome. Post genetic manipulation, IOP monitoring at regular intervals is needed and for large scale testing, on the order of thousands of mice, it is crucial to have at least a partially automated data collection scheme. This work presents a fully wireless system on a chip that measures 300 µm in its widest dimension, has a wireless microwave-based data and power link, and is capable of relaying digitized pressure recordings to a nearby base-station.

Metro add-drop network applications of cascaded dispersion-compensated interleaver pairs using a recirculating loop

A 50-GHz channel spaced dispersion-compensated interleaver pair for a metro add-drop network application was demonstrated using a recirculating loop. After five cascaded nodes (ten interleavers), a 2.5-dB sensitivity differential at bit-error-rate level around 10/sup -9/ was observed between the compensated and uncompensated pairs within a /spl plusmn/10-GHz detuning frequency window.

Wavelength-interleaving bidirectional transmission system using unidirectional amplification in a 5/spl times/100 km recirculating loop

This investigation presents a novel 50-GHz interleaved bidirectional transmission system with eight wavelengths that uses four-port interleavers in a bidirectional recirculating loop. This bidirectional configuration shares optical components in the fiber network and an interleaver is utilized to enable unidirectional amplification in an erbium-doped fiber amplifier to block noise associated with Rayleigh backscattering. After bidirectional transmission through 500-km LEAF fibers in the recirculating loop, power penalties of less than 2.5 dB were achieved at 10 Gb/s for all channels

A compact-size packaged third-order harmonic tag for intraocular pressure (IOP) monitoring inside a mouse eye

This paper shows measurement of intraocular pressure (IOP) within a mouse eye. Three main challenges faced the development of a device for the measurement: the size of the mouse eye, the depth of the anterior chamber where the device will be implanted, and the maximum allowable incision size. These factors all limit the size of the device. In addition, a novel detection scheme is required which enables detection of changes in IOP with high resolution. This paper presents the fabrication process of an ultra-small size Parylene tag in which a micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) capacitive pressure sensor is packaged with a self-expandable Nitinol antenna and a diode. From the device implanted inside the mouse eye, a resonance frequency shift of the third-order harmonic signal was detected with a sensitivity of approximately 1.5 MHz/mmHg at an 11.5 cm distance from the sensor as the pressure inside the mouse eye changed. This work thus shows the feasibility of IOP monitoring using the third order harmonic from a device implanted inside the mouse eye.

Design and analysis of microstrip line rotman lenses

We simulate and compare three different Rotman lenses, under the beam excitation from the outermost input port, with the help of FEM method. Preliminary results suggest that for a large lens, eta = 0.65 , with a scan angle of 45deg, the microstrip Rotman lens with the focal ratio suggested by [1], g = (l+alpha2)/2, has a better performance than other designs with smaller focal ratio when uniform amplitude and linear phase variation is desired. Detail investigations will be conducted to compare the pros and cons of each design.

Cascaded reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexer (ROADM) in metro add/drop network applications

We experimentally studied the cascadability of a 200 GHz channel spaced ROADM for Metro network applications using a re-circulating loop. After seven cascaded nodes and 1100-km transmission, a 2.5 dB sensitivity penalty was observed.

Cascadability study of dispersion-compensated interleaver pairs for metro add/drop applications using a re-circulating loop

A cascadability study is performed, using a re-circulating loop, of a 50-GHz-spaced dispersion-compensated interleaver pair. After five cascaded nodes, a 2.5-dB sensitivity differential is observed with /spl plusmn/0.07 nm wavelength detuning for with/without dispersion compensation pair.