Guest Editorial Special Issue on Applications of Nanotechnology in ...

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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ELECTROMAGNETIC COMPATIBILITY, VOL. 54, NO. 1, FEBRUARY 2012

Guest Editorial Special Issue on Applications of Nanotechnology in Electromagnetic Compatibility (nano-EMC) HIS Special Issue presents recent research advances in nanoscale science and technology with applications of interest for the electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) community. In particular, it aims to bridge the gap between nanotechnology and EMC, to present new materials, devices, and processes for EMC applications exploiting the power of nanotechnology, and to investigate EMC issues related to the integration of nanocomponents in micro- and macroelectrical and electronic systems. In the past few years, there has been an exploding interest in nanoscale science and technology because of their potentially revolutionary benefits. Nanotechnology is functional engineering on an extremely small scale that can be used to develop innovative materials and devices, and implants for numerous industrial applications. It involves the control of materials with a nanoscale fine structure and with the manipulation of tiny objects at the dimensions of molecules and atoms. In a classical design approach, materials have physical properties, whereas devices, made of different materials, have functional performances. The selection and proper use of material represents the first step of the design process. In a nanotechnology-based approach, nanomaterials are designed and fabricated in order to have tailored physical properties enabling the functional performance of the final device, thanks to the possibility of controlling the structure at the nanoscale and of organizing matter to achieve the desired electron transport characteristics. Nanotechnology is truly multidisciplinary. Research at the nanoscale frontier is unified by the need to share knowledge, tools, techniques, and expertise on atomic and molecular interactions. Nanotechnology is currently exploited in electronics, optoelectronics, photonics, sensors, material science, medicine, and biology. Nano-EMC is an interdisciplinary field that covers fundamental EMC themes (like transmission lines, emissions, susceptibility, shielding and protection, measurements, and sensors) that should all be “revisited” at the nanoscale. One of the hot topics on which several studies focus concerns the use, modeling, and EM characterization of carbon nanotube (CNT) based materials for applications in EM shielding and absorption, antenna arrays, or nanointerconnects. Such interest is mainly due to the exceptional transport properties of CNTs, and to their morphological and structural characteristics. The quasiballistic transport in CNTs and their potentially high electrical

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Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TEMC.2012.2185501

conductivity, combined with the absence of electromigration, make them candidates to replace copper in nanointerconnects, as recommended in the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors. Moreover, due to their high aspect ratio, CNTs represent an ideal filler for nanocomposites with low percolation thresholds. However, the exploitation of new CNT-based nanomaterials in electromagnetics and electronics poses new challenges to EMC engineers, like the need for new modeling approaches that allow simulation of complex systems, starting from the very small (at the level of atoms or molecules) to the very large (the macroscale). At the same time, new methods for the EM characterization of nanomaterials and nanosystems at RFs should be developed, as well as novel design procedures for devices, taking into account inter- and intrasystem EMC. The discovery of graphene, with the Nobel prize in 2010 to Geim and Novoselov for their fundamental contribution, has opened new perspectives to researchers in the field of nanomaterials, and consequently poses new challenges for EMC engineers. Graphene-based nanostructures, like graphite nanoplatelets (GNP), few-layer graphene, and carbon nanowalls, could be investigated for their potential as nanofillers in nanocomposites or as basic building blocks in novel RF nanodevices. Functionalization of nanostructures represents another key issue in nanotechnology and provides a new perspective in the sector of ferromagnetic nanomaterials for RF and microwave (MW) applications. In the field of micro/nanoelectronics, scaling down the physical dimensions of components, circuits, and devices, thanks to the exploitation of nanotechnology, enables higher integration and faster switching speeds. This implies sharper transitions between logical states, and more electromagnetic emissions being generated that occupy a larger bandwidth. Conventional power supply decoupling techniques might not be adequate to suppress the noise generated at such high transition switching rates. New and novel decoupling techniques and methods need to be investigated to reduce both conducted and radiated emissions. As with any new technology development, the emergence of nanomaterials and nanodevices provides opportunities for EMC researchers and designers to explore and expand the area of nano-EMC for the next decade. The papers of this Special Issue are grouped in the following main topics: carbon-based nanomaterials for EM shielding and absorbing; nanocrystalline ferromagnetic (NFM) materials for

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EM shielding; modeling of EM field interaction with nanomaterials; interconnects. In the first group, the first eight papers deal with polymericbased composites filled with novel carbon nanomaterials (like carbon onion and GNP) or with CNTs. It is shown that these types of materials are particularly suitable for radar absorbing shields in case of filler concentration up to a few percent weight, whereas the use for EM shielding is appropriate mainly for higher filler concentration and at RFs or MW. Modeling approaches based on Maxwell–Garnet formula are proposed and validated by experimental validation in the first two papers for the prediction of the complex effective permittivity of carbon onion and of GNP composites. CNT-filled polymers are considered in five papers for realizing shielding materials for aeronautical applications, or as lossy sheet in Salisbury screens or in multilayer absorbers designed by the application of genetic algorithm. The last two papers of the first group deal with CNT bucky papers and with functionalized CNT arrays, mainly for application in EM shielding. The second group collects two papers describing NFM materials for application in EM shielding. In particular, the first paper of this group describes novel transparent shield made with NFM-silicon-based composite. The three papers in the third group describe modeling approaches to predict the effect of the EM field interaction with carbon-based nanomaterials, like ideal graphene sheet, CNT arrays, or dipole antennas over CNT-based ground layer. In these papers, the functionalities of nanomaterials at macroscale are correlated with the properties at nanoscale of the nanostructures. Finally, the fourth group collects five papers dealing with the modeling, simulation, and analysis of nanointerconnects. The first paper of the group deals with graphene–nanoribbon inter-

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connects, whereas all others investigate the signal propagation properties of CNT-interconnects or vertical vias. We first want to congratulate the authors who made this Special Issue possible. Sincere thanks to the reviewers for their very accurate and voluntary job. This is the first time the IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ELECTROMAGNETIC COMPATIBILITY had a Special Issue on nano-EMC. We are grateful to the Editor-in-Chief Prof. Heyno Garbe for the support given to the approval and realization of this Special Issue. MARCELLO D’AMORE, Guest Editor Research Center on Nanotechnology Applied to Engineering Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy MARIA SABRINA SARTO, Guest Editor Research Center on Nanotechnology Applied to Engineering Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy G. W. HANSON, Guest Editor College of Engineering and Applied Science Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee A. NAEEMI, Guest Editor School of Electrical and Computer Engineering Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA B. K. TAY, Guest Editor Nanyang Technological University Singapore School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Singapore

Marcello D’Amore (LF’09) received the Laurea degree in electrotechnical engineering from Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy, in 1966. He is currently a Full Professor of Electrotechnics and Electromagnetic Compatibility at the Faculty of Engineering, Sapienza University of Rome, where he was the Head of the Electrical Engineering Department from 1983 to 1985 and from 1989 to 1995. He is the author or coauthor of more than 150 papers in the field of electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) and power line communication. His research interests include electromagnetic modeling of carbon nanotubes, design of electromagnetic transparent shields, and electromagnetic effects produced by high-intensity radiated field interaction to aircraft. Prof. D’Amore was a Cofounder of the International Symposium EMC EUROPE. He was a Guest Editor of two Special Issue and from 2000 to 2003 an Editor-in-Chief of IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ELECTROMAGNETIC COMPATIBILITY. He has received a number of awards from the IEEE EMC Society and from the Society of Automotive Engineers.

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Maria Sabrina Sarto (M’93–SM’01–F’10) received the Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy, in 1997. Since 2005, she has been a Full Professor of Electrotechnics and Electromagnetic Compatibility at the Faculty of Engineering, Sapienza University of Rome, where she has also been the Director of the Research Center on Nanotechnology Applied to Engineering since 2006, the Director the Electromagnetic Compatibility Laboratory of the Department of Electrical Engineering since 1998, and the Director of Sapienza Nanotechnology and Nanoscience Laboratory since 2010. She has published more than 100 papers in the field of electromagnetic compatibility (EMC), numerical electromagnetics, advanced materials for EMC, and nanotechnology. Her current research interests include carbon nanotube interconnects modeling and design, carbon nanotubeand graphene-based nanomaterials for EMC, and EMC in aerospace. Dr. Sarto was a distinguished Lecturer of the IEEE EMC Society in 2001–2002, an Associate Editor of the IEEE EMC TRANSACTIONS since 1998, Cochair of the IEEE EMC Society TC11 on “Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials,” a member of the Advisory Board of the IEEE Council on Nanotechnology, and chair of the working group IEEE STD 299.1 of IEEE EMC Society. She received several awards from IEEE EMC Society and the Society of Automotive Engineers.

George W. Hanson (S’85–M’91–SM’98–F’09) was born in Glen Ridge, NJ, in 1963. He received the B.S.E.E. degree from Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA, in 1986, the M.S.E.E. degree from Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX, IN 1988, and the Ph.D. degree from Michigan State University, East Lansing, IN, 1991. From 1986 to 1988, he was a Development Engineer with General Dynamics, Fort Worth, TX, where he was engaged in research on radar simulators. From 1988 to 1991, he was a research and teaching assistant in the Department of Electrical Engineering, Michigan State University. He is currently a Professor and Chair of Electrical Engineering at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. He is a coauthor of the book Operator Theory for Electromagnetics: An Introduction (New York: Springer, 2002) and the author of Fundamentals of Nanoelectronics (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 2007). His research interests include nanoelectromagnetics, mathematical methods in electromagnetics, electromagnetic wave phenomena in layered media, integrated transmission lines, waveguides, and antennas, and leaky wave phenomena. Dr. Hanson is a member of the International Union of Radio Science (URSI) Commission B, Sigma Xi, and Eta Kappa Nu. He was an Associate Editor for the IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION from 2002 to 2007. In 2006, he received the S.A. Schelkunoff Best Paper Award from the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society.

Azad Naeemi (S’99–M’04–SM’04) received the B.S. degree in electrical engineering from Sharif University, Tehran, Iran, in 1994, and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical and computer engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), Atlanta, in 2001 and 2003, respectively. From 2003 to 2008, he was a Research Engineer with the Microelectronics Research Center, Georgia Tech, where he has been an Assistant Professor with the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering since 2008. His research interests include exploring nanotechnology solutions to the challenges facing giga- and terascale systems. Dr. Naeemi is a member of the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors technical working group on Interconnects. In 2010, he received a Semiconductor Research Corporation Inventor Recognition Award. He is the recipient of the IEEE Electron Devices Society Paul Rappaport Award for the best paper that appeared in IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices in 2007.


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B. K. Tay received the B.Eng. (Hons.) and M.Sc. degrees in electrical and electronic engineering from the National University of Singapore, in 1985 and 1989, respectively, and the Ph.D. degree from the Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore, in 1999. He is the currently a Full Professor and the Associate Dean (Research) at the College of Engineering, NTU. His research works in plasma processing of materials spans more than 15 years. He has jointly invented an industrially viable film deposition system, based on filtered cathodic vacuum arc technology. He is the author or coauthor of more than 300 publications, and is a coinventor with more than 10 international patents. His current research interests include carbon nanotubes, carbon-based composites for interconnects, nanopackaging, and thermal management applications. Dr. Tay and coworkers are recipients of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Outstanding Engineering Award and the National Technology Award (Singapore) in 1997 and 2000, respectively, for outstanding and pioneering R&D contributions on a new filtered cathodic vacuum arc technology. His team also received the 2007 Institution of Engineers Singapore Prestigious Engineering Achievement Awards for their work in nanoengineered carbon hybrid systems.