Department of Microelectronics
Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics, and Computer Science

BSc Z. Zong

PhD student
Electronic Circuits and Architectures (ELCA), Department of Microelectronics

PhD thesis (Jun 2019): High-Purity Digitally Intensive Frequency Synthesis Exploiting Millimeter-Wave Harmonics
Promotor: Bogdan Staszewski

Expertise: mm-wave design

Biography

Zhirui Zong is a PhD candidate researcher at TU Delft since January 2013. Before joining the team, he was an research assistant in RFIC group, Institute of Electromagnetics from University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (UESTC) in Chengdu.

His research interests are:

  1. Multiple coupled inductors modeling.
  2. CMOS 40 GHz mixer design in a direct down‐conversion receiver.
  3. Accurate passive modeling in mm‐wave regime.
  4. Designed a down‐conversion mixer using current bleeding techniques in 90 nm CMOS technology.

Publications

  1. High-Performance Flexible Strain Sensor Fabricated Using Laser Transmission Pyrolysis
    S. Wang; Huiru Yang; Qihang Zong; Qianming Huang; Chunjia Tan; Chenshan Gao; Shinzhen Li; Huaiyu Yem; Guoqi Zhang; Paddy French;
    IEEE Sensors Journal,
    Volume 24, pp. 7521-7529, 2024. DOI: doi: 10.1109/JSEN.2023.3337233
    Keywords: ... Laser transmission pyrolysis (LTP), metal film, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) pattering, stretchable strain sensors, ultraviolet (UV) laser..

    Abstract: ... n recent years, metal crack-based stretchable flexible strain sensors have attracted significant attention in wearable device applications due to their extremely high sensitivity. However, the tradeoff between sensitivity and detection range has been an intractable dilemma, severely limiting their practical applications. Herein, we propose a laser transmission pyrolysis (LTP) technology for fabricating high-performance flexible strain sensors based on (Au) metal cracks with the microchannel array on the polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) surface. The fabricated flexible strain sensors exhibit high sensitivity [gauge factor (GF) of 2448], wide detection range (59% for tensile strain), precise strain resolution (0.1%), fast response and recovery times (69 and 141 ms), and robust durability (over 3000 cycles). In addition, experiment and simulation results reveal that introducing a microchannel array enables the stress redistribution strategy on the sensor surface, which significantly improves the sensing sensitivity compared to conventional flat surface sensors. Based on the excellent performance, the sensors are applied to detect subtle physiological signals, such as pulse and swallowing, as well as to monitor large-scale motion signals, such as knee flexion and finger bending, demonstrating their potential applications in health monitoring, human–machine interactions, and electronic skin.

  2. Chitosan oligosaccharide laser lithograph: a facile route to porous graphene electrodes for flexible on-chip microsupercomputers
    QM Huang; HR Yang; SG Wang; X Liu; CJ Tanand; QH Zong; CS Gao; SZ Li; PJ French; HY Ye;
    ACS Applied Materials & Interface,
    Volume 16, 2024. DOI: doi: 10.1021/ascami.4c2139

  3. FLEXIBLE HIGH-SENSITIVITY STRAIN SENSOR FABRICATED WITH PDMS MICRO-CHANNEL ARRAY USING LASER TRANSMISSION PYROLYSIS TECHNOLOGY
    Shaogang Wang; Qihang Zong; Huiru Yang; Qianming Huang; Huaiyu Ye; Paddy French;
    In IEEE (Ed.), IEEE MEMS 2024,
    IEEE, January 2024.
    Keywords: ... Stretchable strain sensor, Metal film, UV laser, Laser transmission pyrolysis, PDMS pattering.

    Abstract: ... In recent years, flexible strain sensors based on metal cracks have garnered significant interest for their exceptional sensitivity. However, striking a balance between sensitivity and detection range remains a significant challenge, which often limits its wider application. Herein, we introduce an innovative laser transmission pyrolysis technology to fabricate high performance flexible strain sensors based on (Au) metal cracks with a microchannel array on the PDMS surface. The fabricated flexible strain sensors exhibit high sensitivity, wide detection range, precise strain resolution,fast response and recovery times, and robust durability. Furthermore, this technology has potential applications in microfluidics, microelectromechanical systems and optical sensing.

  4. Advanced NO2 Gas Sensor Fabrication through UV Laser-Induced Selective Reduction Laser Sintering
    Shaogang Wang; Qihang Zong; Huiru Yang; Qianming Huang; Huaiyu Ye; Paddy French;
    In IEEE NEMS 2024,
    Kyoto, Japan, 2024.

  5. NiO-Doped Laser-Induced Graphene: A High-Performance Flexible Temperature Sensor
    Shaogang Wang; Chunjian Tan; Qihang Zong; Avik Sett; Huaiyu Ye; Paddy French;
    In IEEE (Ed.), Proceedings IEEE Sensors,
    2024.

  6. Rapid Fabrication of High-Performance Flexible Pressure Sensors Using Laser Pyrolysis Direct Writing
    Shaogang Wang; Qihang Zong; Huiru Yang; Chunjian Tan; Qianming Huang; Xu Liu; Guoqi Zhang; Paddy French; Huaiyu Ye;
    Applied Materials and Interfaces,
    2023. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.3c04290
    Keywords: ... flexible pressure sensor, UV laser, laser direct writing, continuous laser pyrolysis, PDMS, micro-truncated pyramid.

    Abstract: ... The fabrication of flexible pressure sensors with low cost, high scalability, and easy fabrication is an essential driving force in developing flexible electronics, especially for high-performance sensors that require precise surface microstructures. However, optimizing complex fabrication processes and expensive microfabrication methods remains a significant challenge. In this study, we introduce a laser pyrolysis direct writing technology that enables rapid and efficient fabrication of high-performance flexible pressure sensors with a microtruncated pyramid array. The pressure sensor demonstrates exceptional sensitivities, with the values of 3132.0, 322.5, and 27.8 kPa−1 in the pressure ranges of 0−0.5, 0.5−3.5, and 3.5−10 kPa, respectively. Furthermore, the sensor exhibits rapid response times (loading: 22 ms, unloading: 18 ms) and exceptional reliability, enduring over 3000 pressure loading and unloading cycles. Moreover, the pressure sensor can be easily integrated into a sensor array for spatial pressure distribution detection. The laser pyrolysis direct writing technology introduced in this study presents a highly efficient and promising approach to designing and fabricating high-performance flexible pressure sensors utilizing micro-structured polymer substrates.

  7. High-Performance Flexible Strain Sensor Fabricated Using Laser Transmission Pyrolysis
    Shaogang Wang; Huiru Yang; Qihang Zong; Qianming Huang; Chunjian Tan; Chenshan Gao; Shizhen Li; Huaiyu Ye; Guoqi Zhangand; Paddy French;
    IEEE Sensors Journal,
    2023. DOI: doi: 10.1109/JSEN.2023.3337233
    Keywords: ... Stretchable strain sensors, Metal film, UV laser, Laer transmission pyrolysis, PDMS pattering..

    Abstract: ... In recent years, metal crack-based stretchable flexible strain sensors have attracted significant attention in wearable device applications due to their extremely high sensitivity. However, the trade-off between sensitivity and detection range has been an intractable dilemma, severely limiting their practical applications. Herein, we propose a laser transmission pyrolysis technology for fabricating high-performance flexible strain sensors based on (Au) metal cracks with the microchannel array on the polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) surface. The fabricated flexible strain sensors exhibit high sensitivity (gauge factor of 2448), wide detection range (59% for tensile strain), precise strain resolution (0.1%), fast response and recovery times (69 ms and 141 ms), and robust durability (over 3000 cycles). In addition, experiment and simulation results reveal that introducing a microchannel array enables the stress distribution strategy on the sensor surface, which significantly improves the sensing sensitivity compared to conventional flat surface sensors. Based on the excellent performance, the sensors are applied to detect subtle physiological signals such as pulse and swallowing, as well as to monitor large-scale motion signals such as knee flexion and finger bending, demonstrating their potential applications in health monitoring, human-machine interactions, and electronic skin

  8. A Low-Spur Fractional-N PLL Based on a Time-Mode Arithmetic Unit
    Gao, Zhong; He, Jingchu; Fritz, Martin; Gong, Jiang; Shen, Yiyu; Zong, Zhirui; Chen, Peng; Spalink, Gerd; Eitel, Ben; Alavi, Morteza S.; Staszewski, Robert Bogdan; Babaie, Masoud;
    IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits,
    pp. 1-20, 2022. DOI: 10.1109/JSSC.2022.3209338

  9. A 2.6-to-4.1GHz Fractional-N Digital PLL Based on a Time-Mode Arithmetic Unit Achieving -249.4dB FoM and -59dBc Fractional Spurs
    Gao, Zhong; He, Jingchu; Fritz, Martin; Gong, Jiang; Shen, Yiyu; Zong, Zhirui; Chen, Peng; Spalink, Gerd; Eitel, Ben; Yamamoto, Ken; Staszewski, Robert Bogdan; Alavi, Morteza S.; Babaie, Masoud;
    In 2022 IEEE International Solid- State Circuits Conference (ISSCC),
    pp. 380-382, 2022. DOI: 10.1109/ISSCC42614.2022.9731561

  10. Flexible and Highly Sensitive Pressure Sensor Based on Patterned PDMS Forming with Laser Pyrolysis Direct Write Technique for Wearable Electr
    Shaogang Wang; Qihang Zong; Chunjian Tan; Huaiyu Ye; Paddy French;
    In MNE 2022,
    September 2022.

  11. A supply pushing reduction technique for LC oscillators based on ripple replication and cancellation
    Chen, Yue; Liu, Yao-Hong; Zong, Zhirui; Dijkhuis, Johan; Dolmans, Guido; Staszewski, Robert Bogdan; Babaie, Masoud;
    IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits,
    Volume 54, Issue 1, pp. 240--252, 2019.

  12. A 60 GHz Frequency Generator Based on a 20 GHz Oscillator and an Implicit Multiplier
    Z. Zong; M. Babaie; R. B. Staszewski;
    IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits,
    Volume 51, Issue 5, pp. 1261-1273, May 2016. DOI: 10.1109/JSSC.2016.2528997
    Keywords: ... CMOS digital integrated circuits;field effect MIMIC;frequency multipliers;millimetre wave frequency convertors;millimetre wave oscillators;phase noise;FoM;PN performance;digital CMOS process;extraction techniques;figure-of-merit;frequency 20 GHz;frequency 57.8 GHz;frequency 60 GHz;frequency generator;frequency tuning range;implicit multiplier;local oscillator signal;mm-wave frequency generation technique;phase detection;phase noise performance;phase-locked loop;power efficiency;size 40 nm;third-harmonic boosting techniques;Boosting;Frequency conversion;Harmonic analysis;Oscillators;Phase locked loops;Power demand;Resonant frequency;60 GHz;60 GHz;PLL;frequency divider;harmonic boosting;harmonic extraction;implicit multiplier;mm-wave;oscillator;phase noise (PN);transformer.

  13. An Implantable Stimulator With Safety Sensors in Standard CMOS Process for Active Books
    Liu, Xiao; Valente, Virgilio; Zong, Zhulin; Jiang, Dai; Donaldson, Nick; Demosthenous, Andreas;
    IEEE Sensors Journal,
    Volume 16, Issue 19, pp. 7161--7172, October 2016. DOI: 10.1109/JSEN.2016.2577688
    document

  14. A 60 GHz 25% tuning range frequency generator with implicit divider based on third harmonic extraction with 182 dBc/Hz FoM
    Z. Zong; M. Babaie; R. B. Staszewski;
    In 2015 IEEE Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits Symposium (RFIC),
    pp. 279-282, May 2015.

BibTeX support

Last updated: 14 Jun 2019

Zhirui Zong

Alumnus