Albert P. Pisano (Advisor)

Temperature-Compensated Aluminium Nitride Lamb Wave Resonator Performance Study

Damien Wittwer
Albert P. Pisano
2010

The generation of a precise and stable reference frequency with low drift and phase noise is a need for electronic products as navigation systems, wireless communication devices or multimedia applications. Recent researches proved that Lamb wave resonators (LWR) made of aluminium nitride (AlN) piezoelectric material is the best technology in term of high resonance frequencies multiplex (from 100MHz to 1GHz), high quality factor (up to 2000)...

The Wankel Engine and Fuel-Flexibility: An Engine Performance Review

John Réville
Albert P. Pisano
Carlos Fernandez-Pello
2009

In a time where demand for autonomous mobile devices is sharply increasing, we turn our attention to the systems available to power them and discover that many do not meet the requirements and technology breakthroughs appear to be much in need. We find that the Wankel engine shows very good potential as a fuel-flexible power source and we locate its current and potential positions on a Ragone diagram and compare it to various other power sources. We then discuss...

Silicon Carbide and Diamond Materials Development for Micro- and Nano-Electromechanical Systems

Jingchun Zhang
Roya Maboudian
Roger T. Howe
David B. Graves
Albert P. Pisano
2007
Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) are miniature integrated systems including both mechanical and electronic components, which are developed based on silicon integrated circuits technology. The current trend indicates two directions of MEMS technology: (1) a scaling downward to nanometer scale as nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS); (2) a development of advanced materials that can outperform silicon. The goal of this work is to study and develop the material properties and process flows to realize the...

Sensing and Harvesting Pressure Fluctuations in Harsh Environments

Levent Beker
Liwei Lin
Albert P. Pisano
Tarek Zohdi
Rikky Muller
2017

Pressure is one of the most frequent and important parameters utilized in many applications to provide critical information about the operation of a system as well as a potential mechanical energy source. Among various pressure-related devices, very few function in harsh environment which includes high temperature, high pressure...

Simulation of In Situ Solid State Electrochemical Sensor for Improved Diagnostics and Control of Lean Engines

Jonathan Michael Rheaume
Albert P. Pisano
Alice M. Agogino
2008
Internal combustion engines generally operate as open loop feedback systems. Present engine control strategy involves sensors that simply provide data for comparison with an “engine map” of tables in engine control computers. Closing the feedback loop in real time and for individual cylinders would allow improved engine control, resulting in reduced pollution and increased efficiency. This treatise presents a simulation of the output of a solid state sensor...

Silicon to Steel, Rapid Bonding

Theodore Prescop
Albert P. Pisano
Liwei Lin
2003

A rapid bonding process for installing vacuum-sealed MEMS strain sensor modules to mechanical components is being developed. This innovative process will be developed to replace conventional adhesive-based approaches. In particular, the silicon to ...

Solid State Electrochemical Sensors for Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) Detection in Lean Exhaust Gases

Jonathan Michael Rheaume
Albert P. Pisano
J. Karl Hedrick
Seth Sanders
2010
Solid state electrochemical sensors that measure nitrogen oxides (NOx) in lean exhaust have been investigated in order to help meet future on-board diagnostic (OBD) regulations for diesel vehicles. This impedancemetric detection technology consists of a planar, single cell sensor design with various sensing electrode materials and yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) as the electrolyte. No reference to ambient air is required. An impedance analysis...

Rapid Synthesis of One-Dimensional Nanostructures via Induction Heating

Brian David Sosnowchik
Liwei Lin
Albert P. Pisano
Ming C. Wu
2008
This work presents the development of a platform technology for the rapid synthesis of a wide range of onedimensional nanostructures using induction heating. The technique is fast, enabling the synthesis of nanostructures in as short as one minute, simple, clean, and scalable. The technique is also versatile, enabling the synthesis of nanostructures in bulk or locally on MEMS, and may open up a new class of rapid nanostructure synthesis. The...

Piezoelectric Aluminum Nitride RF Front-End Design for Wireless Communication

Yun-Ju Lai
Albert P. Pisano
Liwei Lin
2008
A micromachined radio frequency bandpass filter comprised by thin film piezoelectric aluminum nitride (AlN) lamb wave resonators for wireless communication channel selection has been developed, fabricated and tested. The AlN lamb wave resonator has a multilayered structure with aluminum interdigital transducer (IDT) on top and bottom of a c-oriented aluminum nitride thin film (Al/AlN/Al). The top and bottom IDTs can excite the lowest-order...

Poly-Crystalline Silicon Carbide Passivated Capacitive MEMS Strain Gauge for Harsh Environments

Babak Jamshidi
Albert P. Pisano
Liwei Lin
Kristofer S.J. Pister
2008
This dissertation describes the design and fabrication of a high-resolution capacitive sensor encapsulated in poly-crystalline silicon carbide. This sensor can continuously measure the strain in the substrate under aggressive environments such as extreme ambient temperature, corrosive media and high-g shocks. This strain sensor has a sub-millimeter gauge length capable of precise assessment of strain fields. The device...