Research drives innovation
Reading a book on your e-reader? Looking up directions to the nearest coffee shop on your phone? Getting an MRI to diagnose a torn ACL? Whatever your technology needs, chances are you are benefiting from research that most likely originated in a university. Academic institutions have for decades been charting the course for some of the most significant, enabling, and impactful innovations available to us. And while we can point to a company as providing us the product or service, they have become available to us only because early in the history of their development, there was foundational research conducted at a university, the outcome of which was then licensed out to private companies to be scaled for marketability. Of equal significance is the fact that aside from the technology itself, universities also train a workforce who can continue this kind of critical open-ended or fundamental research and also convert technical breakthroughs to marketable products and technologies.
The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering is no stranger to such exploration. Research conducted by faculty in ECE has paved the way for advancements in healthcare, quantum computing, communications, and other areas. Patents held by our faculty have been responsible for the development of portable diagnostic devices, secure internet transactions, improved smartphone capabilities, augmented data transmission speeds, and many other technological advancements that have benefited society as a whole.
Research conducted by Rhonda Franklin (McKnight Presidential Endowed Professor and IEM Abbot Professor of Innovative Education) and Bethanie Stadler (CSE Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Erwin A. Kelen Professor in Electrical Engineering) is particularly illustrative of how research in universities drives innovation which in turn contributes to improvements in the overall quality of life. Stadler and Franklin have been granted four patents over the last 12 months at the intersection of nanotechnology and high frequency electronics, which have implications for the design of electronic devices used in fields as diverse as communications, healthcare diagnostics, robotics, and others.
Nanowire technology advancements
In 2019 with initial funding from the National Science Foundation, Stadler and Franklin led the development of a process that enabled magnetic nanowires (MNWs) to act as barcodes and later as novel identification tags to expand the functionality of conventional identification systems, such as radio frequency identification (RFID). Due to their tiny size, MNWs have the potential to be used in diverse applications that range in scale from the macroscopic to the nanoscopic and in different types of systems from inanimate to biological. The patent (US 11,748,583 B2) describes the manufacture of MNWs and sensing with high-frequency circuits that enable each type of MNW to be identified and distinguished from other types of MNWs. The identity phenomenon is called ferromagnetic resonance (FMR), and the scientists have therefore dubbed their concept FMR-ID. The work is of particular import in the healthcare realm where it can be used for diagnostic purposes. The research outcomes ultimately were supported by the MN Futures program and the Institute for Engineering in Medicine (both at the University of Minnesota). This work eventually inspired later work to explore the development of novel ID tag concepts for security applications based on unique FMR signatures and resulted in licensing during sponsored research with Cisco.
Last year, enabled by their previous work, Stadler and Franklin’s research produced significantly fruitful outcomes in the design of technology that enables connectivity to nanoscale devices, and design of sub-terahertz high speed interconnects. This was accomplished with the help of follow-on support from Semiconductor Research Corporation. Their research also enables nanopackaging techniques using nanowire technology which was accomplished with the help of follow-on support from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research.
Patents US 12,100,879 B2 and US 12,142,805 B2 offer innovative ways to design semiconductor devices using integrated anodic aluminum oxide (iAAO), a nanoporous material. iAAO allows vertical interconnects to be formed using copper nanowires (CuNW) and is a critical enhancement when you are trying to shrink devices from the micro to the nanoscale and create signal pathways that consume very little power. These vertical CuNW interconnects are necessary to connect between layers of circuitry and to provide an interface for smaller footprint devices.
The novel adhesion technique (US 12,100,879 B2) allows the AAO structures to be synthesized directly on semiconductors to help manufacturers shrink devices (which reduces cost and volume) and designers create very low loss interconnects (US 12,142,805 B2 and US 12,255,108 B2) when operating from the microwave into the sub-millimeter wave frequency range for communication applications. The research, funded by the Semiconductor Research Corporation and in collaboration with Professor Rashaunda Henderson (University of Texas Dallas) and her team, brings energy efficient connectivity of nanoscale devices, faster data transmission, expanded imaging and other applications within reach of commercial interest to companies.
To overcome packaging barriers faced when scaling electronic devices from the micro to the nanoscale, Stadler and Franklin have also developed a method to fabricate and operate electronic nanostructures in porous substrates (US 12,300,591 B2). Here, the electronic nanostructures are a combination of magnetic nanowires and solder nanoparticles. When an oscillating magnetic field is applied, the nanowires generate heat which melts the solder to enable three dimensional stacking of chips without a reflow oven. The method allows for devices as small as 10nm to be interconnected in complex circuits. The research for this innovation was supported by Dr. Ali Sayir via thr Air Force Office of Scientific Research.
Role of funding in advancing science and technology
As with all research, funding enables scientists to work on their hypothesis, test their claims, and demonstrate them successfully - critical validation steps for an invention to move from disclosure during the filing stage of a patent application to the patent being granted. Funding supports the hiring of needed experts, staff, and specialized equipment (some of which might not even exist at the time and need to be developed from scratch). Reliable funding, therefore, helps researchers carry out the complex task of investigating and demonstrating their claims in order to provide industry and society with viable solutions. These solutions offer benefits that range from the enabling of applications to the generation of knowledge.
Innovations create opportunities that impact the workforce, industry, and government as well as the lives of everyday people. Scientists and engineers gain knowledge that contributes to further advancement of their discipline, and students and early career researchers gain valuable training that can support their future employers - academia, industry, or government. Funding organizations (i.e., government or industry entities) can absorb the technical developments and deploy them in their own commercial enterprises to advance their enterprise goals in important societal areas like healthcare, national security, energy security, and others. While invisible to the average person, everyday life is enabled by many research innovations that inform the successful development and deployment of technological innovations in our infrastructure like faster communications, reliable power sources, smaller energy- efficient devices, non-invasive diagnostics, treatment options for diseases, and targeted drugs. All these improvements are the result of common interest in new enabling technologies whose practical use may lie in the near or far future.
Impact of Stadler and Franklin's research
Stadler and Franklin’s research ultimately resulted in five patents so far: one that offered initial insights supported by long-term basic research funding from National Science Foundation (NSF) and the University of Minnesota and four that brought in development research funding from the microelectronics industry (three patents were supported by SRC) and basic research funding for government interest resulting in one patent. Their work has had a three-pronged impact: development of new knowledge, training of research workforce for industry, and creation of innovations that can enable industry and government agencies at a lower cost and provide opportunities for licensing.
Some of the students who were part of the research teams are now working in local US companies and global giants like Apple, Samsung, Starkey, Micron, Seagate, Western Digital, 3M, and NI. Others are scientists at national labs or professors themselves who continue the work of foundational research that will help expand technology. Funding entities such as AFOSR, NSF, SRC, and Cisco have made gains in technology that otherwise would not have been possible, and funding outcomes from the SRC supported work have impacted giants in the semiconductor industry like Intel, IBM, US TEL and TSMC.
Why research matters
Our lives today are underpinned by science and engineering. So, it is not surprising that studies have indicated that the economic returns of investing in research are very high. In a report authored by Professor Andrew Fieldhouse (economist at Texas A&M University) and Karel Mertens (Senior Vice President and Director of Research at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas) government investments in scientific scientific research and development (non-defense) have yielded returns between 150 and 300 percent since the Second World War. The research that lies behind the patents secured by Stadler and Franklin will ultimately lead to advances that will impact our lives across multiple facets. Eventually, the benefits will surpass the initial monetary investment in research and contribute to keeping our nation at the forefront of technological advancements, economic growth, and overall prosperity.