Micro-electronics and Digital and Autonomous Systems (MIDAS)
MIDAS is one of the three thematic infrastructures in the Aalto University's School of Electrical Engineering.
Electronics test facilities
Electronics test facilities are part of the School of Electrical Engineering's research infrastructure Micro-electronics and Digital and Autonomous Systems (MIDAS).
In our electronics test facilities, we have measurement sites for radio engineering and for IC characterisation.
Millimetre Wave Laboratory of Finland (MilliLab) is a joint laboratory between VTT Technical Research Center of Finland and Aalto University School of Electrical Engineering. MilliLab is also a European Space Agency (ESA) External Laboratory on Millimetre Wave Technology.
The key instruments of MilliLab facilities at Micro-​electronics and Digital and Autonomous Systems (MIDAS) are:
- 4-port PNA vector network analyser Keysight N5225B 10 MHz - 50 GHz with VDI mm-wave modules up to 1.1 THz
- 67 GHz vector network analyzer (Agilent E8361C PNA) with up to 750 GHz mm-wave modules (Agilent, OML, VDI)
- Probe station for on-wafer measurements (Cascade model 11000 probe station)
- Probe heads up to 500 GHz
- OCT imaging system (Thorlabs VEG210C1)
- Optical cryostat system (Janis SHI-4-1)
- Semiconductor parameter analyzer (Agilent B1500A)
- Power meters up to 170 GHz
The IC lab includes test facilities for analog, mixed-mode, RF, and millimeter wave integrated circuits. It houses an EM-shielded room (Euroshield Series 81) for accurate RF measurements. The IC lab consists of five measurement positions – two for LF/digital and three for RF/µw. Most measurements are automated and run remotely with Python scripts.
Key instruments include:
- 70 GHz 4-port vector network analyzer (Anritsu Vectorstar MS4647B)
- 110 GHz spectrum analyzer (Keysight UXA N9041B)
- 40 GHz active load-pull system (Maury Microwave MT2000)
- 23 GHz oscilloscope (Tektronix DPO72304DX)
- 26 GHz signal source analyzer (Agilent 5052B)
- Semiconductor parameter analyzer (Keysight B1500)
- A set of signal generators, spectrum analyzers, oscilloscopes, DC power sources etc.
- Probe station for on-wafer measurements
- Eight-IO vacuum chamber for MEMS testing
- 2 temperature chambers, one with vibrating plate (Vötsch VTM 7004, Weisstechnic LabEvent)
- FPGA cards (Virtex-7) are extensively used for high-speed digital signal generation and detection
The Microwave lab is equipped with microwave device measurement equipment up to roughly 60 GHz. It includes five measurement positions which can be equipped as required by experiment at hand. One lab table houses a soldering station and a microscope. Main instruments of the Microwave lab include:
- 67 GHz 4-port vector network analyzer (Rohde & Schwarz ZNA67)
- 40 GHz vector network analyzer (Agilent E8363A PNA)
- 18 GHz vector network analyzer (Agilent E5063A ENA)
- 40 GHz spectrum analyzer (Agilent 8564EC)
- 60 GHz analog signal generator (Rohde & Schwarz SMR 60)
- 20 GHz analog signal generator (Rohde & Schwarz SMP 22)
- Antenna positioner for sounder measurements (Diamond DAMS)
- Software-defined radio based channel sounding system (NI USRP-RIO)
- Power meters up to 50 GHz
- as well as several sub-10-GHz signal generators, spectrum analyzers and oscilloscopes
- 3D-printer (Ultimaker S7)
Modern mixed-mode IC design as well as design of multi-antenna structures and phased-arrays require very powerful computers to run CAD tools. Our dedicated server cluster consists of ten 32-CPU servers with 512Gb of memory each.
Contact information
We are open for external institutes and companies. Please contact Research Engineer Matti Vaaja (firstname.surname@aalto.fi, +358 50 430 1337) for terms and conditions.
Research infrastructure of the School of Electrical Engineering
On this page, you will find information about the research infrastructures of the School of Electrical Engineering.