Research

Integrated Circuits Lab (ICL)

Brief History

  • 1980, semiconductor equipment were installed in the ICL.
  • 1981, first solar cell prototype was fabricated.
  • 1982, MOS capacitors preparation and characterization started.
  • June 1982, first MOSFET prototype was fabricated.
  • 1986 and 1987, transparent conducting thin films (ITO) fabrication took place.
  • 1987 – 1990, research on solar hydrogen generation.(in collaboration with KSA – Riyadh)
  • 1991 – 1993, ICL started open-source design tools training /testing equipment operation
  • 1995, ICL started Mentor Graphics EDA tools acquisition/training.
  • 1998, ICL produced its first chip prototype.
  • Started 1998, ICL had multiple tape-outs related to MSc/PhD theses
  • Ten faculty members with diverse expertise.
  • Starting 1995, ICL offers state-of-the-art graduation projects.
  • 2006 – 2014, ICL held graduate training on VLSI. (Ministry of Telecom Program)

Research Directions

  • Solar Cells
  • Power Management
  • Energy Harvesting

(low frequency)
  • PV Applications
  • Smart Power Management
  • MEMS Sensors
  • Sensor Interfaces

(medium frequency)
  • PHY Design
  • ADC Design

(medium-high frequency)
  • WSN Applications
  • Serial Links
  • RF and
  • mm-wave
  • UWB Circuits

(high frequency)

 

ICL Members

  • Prof. Hani Ragai
  • Prof. Hisham Haddarra (CEO of Si-Ware Company)
  • Prof. Khaled Sharaf
  • Prof. Mohamed Desouky
  • Prof. Emad Hegazi (Lab Director & Faculty Vice dean of Research & PG).
  • Dr. Mohamed El nozahi
  • Dr. Sameh Ibrahim 
  • Dr. Mohamed Elsheikh
  • Dr. Ayman Hassan
  • Dr. Diaa Eldeen Sayed
  • Dr. Hesham Omran

Research Projects

Many projects have been held using external funding:

Research projects

  • “ Electrochemical Control of Silicon Surfaces for Electronic and Solar Applications", EC project (INCO), 1994 - 1996.
  • “ Development of Simulation Models for Analog IC Design Reuse”, Mentor Graphics Egypt, 2000 - 2001.
  • “ MEMS for HF Applications”, MEMScAP Egypt, 2001 - 2003.
  • “ Study of DG SOI MOSFETs for Nanoelectronics, IMHOTEP, 2006 - 2007.
  • “ Test Circuit Design using a virtual technology for testing Caliber” , Mentor Graphics Egypt, 2006 – 2008.
  • “ WSNs for O&G Industry”, NTRA – UFE, 2010 - 2012.
  • “WSNs Wind Farms”, STDF – Mansoura Univ., 2011 - 2012.
  • “ MEMS-Based Timing Chips for IT/Mobile Applications”, ITAC, ASU/MEMS Vision, 2010 – 2013.
  • “Wireless Electrode ECG”, NTRA, 2012 – 2015.
  • “Robust SRAM Design”, ITAC/ITIDA, 2014 – 2015.
  • “A High-Precision SAW Oscillator”, Si-Ware Systems & Silterra Malaysia, 2015 – 2016.

Running Research Projects

  • “Smart Wireless LED Driver for Public Lighting ”, RDI-2, Tegrom, Started May 2014.
  • “Design of energy efficient Embedded SRAM Memory and Standard Cells for Ultra-low Voltage Applications”, ITIDA-ITAC, Started March 2014.
  • “Fully Integrated Weather Station Chips for Smart Phones & Tablets”, ITIDA-ITAC, Started Feb. 2015.
  • “POTOO: A Low-Power 12-Gbps Multi-Standard SERDES PHY”, ITIDA & Mipex, Started May 2016.

Measurement Facilities

  • DC characterization
    • 4142 DC Source/Monitor (20fA, 4µV)
  • Analog/RF characterization
    • Oscilloscope 8GHz, 20GSa/s
    • Signal Sources
      • RF Generator 250kHz - 3GHz
      • Arbitrary Waveform Generator - 4.2 GS/s
    • Signal Analyzers
      • 30Hz-2.9GHz Spectrum Analyzer
      • 300KHz to 3GHz RF Network Analyzer
    • Digital characterization
      • Logic Analyzers 68Ch - 235MHz
      • Pattern Generator 64Ch - 268MHz
    • PCB characterization
      • Digital Serial Analyzer 20 GHz W/TDR

Probe Station


ICL consistes of three main parts

working area

mentor graphics (seminar) room

Measurment Lab

ICL Students' Chips

Outcomes from Graduation Projects and MSc/PhD Theses
Electronics and MEMS (1998 – 2014)

Topics