Programmable microwave devices

We are looking for a highly motivated and versatile student to work on an exciting interdisciplinary PhD project on programmable microwave devices. This studentship will run alongside an EPSRC funded research project on the same topic. The ultimate goal of the project is to develop innovative microwave circuit technology similar to the concept of FPGA in electronics, using liquid materials. The technology to be developed can be retraced to conventional tunable or reconfigurable microwave devices, but represents a paradigm shift in that functional reconfigurability and programmability is the focus and new concepts are applied.

The project will be supervised by an interdisciplinary team at Birmingham. The research will take place at the Emerging Device Technology (EDT) Lab, well equipped with microwave measurement equipment, a cleanroom including microfluidic bench.

The PhD student will primarily (i) develop novel programmable microwave circuits, such as, not limited to, antennas, signal distribution networks, filters and multiplexers; (ii) develop actuation techniques based on microfluidic technology; (iii) design, fabricate and experimentally verify the concepts through measurement campaign. Other activities supporting the research will also be carried out when required. The PhD candidate is expected to develop the skills to lead the research project and interact with colleagues, partners and stakeholders with different technical backgrounds and from different disciplines.