Parade of scientific research platforms
In your impression, a 9 cm long, 5 cm wide, 5What can a 5-centimeter-tall "small box" come in handy?
The team of Professor Xie Huikai, Dean of Chongqing Institute of Microelectronics of Beijing Institute of Technology (hereinafter referred to as Beijing Institute of Microelectronics), gave the answer - with this "small box" the size of half a palm, it can achieve efficient detection of water quality, food freshness, nutrients, pharmaceutical ingredients, etc.
The reporter learned that the achievement combines the characteristics of miniaturization, integration, and mass production, and the volume is reduced by an order of magnitude compared with traditional products, and the response speed is increased by an order of magnitude; At the same time, the downstream use cost can be greatly reduced, and it is expected to achieve mass production and market within the year.
In other words, this "small box" is at the international leading level in terms of technology, and has great advantages over similar imported products; Compared with similar products in the past, there are more application scenarios. Taking water quality testing as an example, accurate results can be obtained in only 10 seconds, and it can also be customized according to user needs, and non-destructive real-time testing can be carried out in food, agriculture, petrochemical and other fields.
These good news are like a string of bright pearls, tightly connected together, forming a shining footprint. This footprint is a vivid demonstration of the development of the integrated circuit industry in the Western (Chongqing) Science City.
Reduce the size by an order of magnitude and make the device more portable
In spring, everything sprouts. A number of scientific research achievements in the Western (Chongqing) Science City have also begun to emerge.
Beili Microelectronics Institute. Photo by Lei Jian.
Just like this "small box", it is the research and development result of Beijing Institute of Microelectronics - MEMS micro Fourier transform near-infrared spectrometer (hereinafter referred to as micro FTS spectrometer), which can detect the composition and content of organic matter non-destructively, in real time and at the highest level.
How small is the "little box"?
Professor Xie Huikai bluntly said: "A reduction of an order of magnitude has been achieved." The same Fourier transform spectrometer is traditionally produced, and the core component alone is about the size of a 24-inch suitcase。WhileThe miniature FTS spectrometer is only half the size of a woman's palm in the palm of her hand and weighs only 370 grams
Micro FTS spectrometer. Photo courtesy of the interviewee.
This miniature FTS spectrometer, which weighs less than 1 kilogram, is not still "recuperating" in the laboratory, it has been "tested" in practical application for half a year.
All the equipment for spectral water quality analysis is in this," said Zheng Yuanliang, the person in charge of the sewage treatment plant in Shiban Town, Science City, as he opened the cabinet door of the automatic sampling device next to the drainage well. The reporter saw that on the same floor of the cabinet, micro FTS spectrometer, industrial computer, sample pool, water pump and other equipment were testing the water quality.
With the traditional method, it took 2 hours for the water plant to get a test data. But for this "little man" who has been "on" the factory for half a year, Zheng Yuanliang is very satisfied. He said, "It's small, but it's a lot of good things. With this equipment, the analysis data is not only fast but also highly accurate, and the waste liquid generated is reduced, which means that the cost is greatly reduced for usThe cost performance is much higher than that of more than one million imported equipment
Chen Chao, an optical engineer at the Beijing Institute of Microelectronics, added, "Our spectrometer can produce an effective spectral data every 10 seconds, and more than 4,000 sample data have been collected and processed in the past six months, which effectively shortens the time for water quality index detection, and can seize valuable time for emergency work to avoid the expansion of pollution range." ”
Prof. Xie Huikai (first from left) discusses work with team members in the laboratory. Photo courtesy of the interviewee.
In addition, the instrument adopts:The world's first ultra-large displacement electrothermal MEMS micromirror and unique optical design, which greatly improves the resolution of the Fourier transform spectrometerIt has achieved the international leading position of the core chip of the micro spectrometer based on MEMS technology
In just two and a half years, the Beijing Institute of Microelectronics has becomeOne of the most cutting-edge MEMS research pilot platforms in China。The MEMS Advanced Micro-Nano Process Research Center is currently builtIt is the only scientific research institution in China that has mastered the design and process of MEMS micromirrors with full drive mechanism
Increase the speed by an order of magnitude and better empower large industries
The world's first ultra-large displacement electrothermal MEMS microscope" is the "heart" of this spectrometer with completely independent intellectual property rights, and this research and development technology is at the international leading level.
The stability of the chip is an important guarantee for the stability of the whole system." In order to keep the stability of this "heart" in the best state, many core members of the team have been looking for suitable materials for chips since 2008. After countless days and nights of experimentation, they finally found a combination of metal and dielectric bimaterials that met their requirements from a vast array of alternative materials.
Micro FTS spectrometer core. Photo by Lei Jian.
It is important to know that for MEMS micromirrors, their performance and characteristics largely depend on the driving mode. Common electrostatic drives and electromagnetic drives have their own advantages and disadvantages, but the team finally chose electric heat as the power source after repeated experiments. The so-called electric heat drive is actually the use of thermal expansion and contraction of materials, and the mercury thermometer used in daily use is a good example.
Xue Yuan is operating the instrument. Photo courtesy of the interviewee.
The team has completed the research and development of chips and modules to systems of core technologies, and then to the development of software and algorithms for the whole machine, all of which have been self-developed. "Now the response time of the chip to the drive signal,From the initial 01 second has been increased to 001 seconds. An order of magnitude improvement has been achieved。Xue Yuan, senior R&D engineer of MEMS at the institute, continued, "In addition to the fast response speed, this driving method can also ensure that the micromirror can also achieve rapid transformation in other application scenarios and can be applied to a wider range of scenarios." ”
Not only "time", but also the units of measurement of length and volume have become "miniatial" here.
"Why make things small? ”
China must have MEMS chips that bear their own stamp. Professor Xie Huikai's answer was resounding, "Secondly, it is because with the rise of the Internet of Everything and artificial intelligence, the market demand for integrated circuits based on MEMS technology has been expanding. ”
R&D personnel of Beijing Institute of Microelectronics. Photo courtesy of the interviewee.
Xue Yuan, who has a similar foreign study experience to Professor Xie Huikai, said bluntly, "China does not lack experience and innovation in the application side, but what it lacks is core chips." Our task is to build and build core chips based on MEMS technology. ”
It is with such feelings and beliefs, after a long-term inheritance, they continue to "calculate" between millimeters and microns, and finally make the product combine the advantages of small size, low power consumption, fast speed, high reliability and low cost.
And this result is the original intention of Beili Microelectronics Institute. "Chongqing root, Beili core" is to make efforts for intelligent manufacturing equipmentIntelligent manufacturing, autonomous driving, artificial intelligenceand other fields, forIndustrial robots, industrial defect detection, unmanned logistics equipmentEquipped with ultra-high-precision "eyes".
e