Graphene-Enhanced Smooth Ceramic Coatings for High-Performance Electronics

Purpose and goal:

This project aims to explore the feasibility of developing a scalable and cost-efficient process for graphene-enhanced smooth and crack-free ceramic coatings on the surfaces of 3D-structured ceramic radio-frequency devices, in order to smoothen the ceramic-metal interface and improve the key performance and reliability.

Expected results and effects:

We have developed a spin coating process to fabricate composite ceramic coatings, consisting of graphene and titanium dioxide nanoparticles, on industrial cuboid ceramic resonators. Systematic characterizations confirm that the graphene-ceramic coatings smoothen the 3D resonators and improve their quality factor by more than 10%. The comparative study has also validated that the presence of graphene prevents the formation of large cracks in the ceramic coatings so as to significantly improve the reliability of device performance.

Approach and implementation:

This project was conducted based on the collaboration between KTH and Huawei Technologies Sweden AB. KTH formulated the graphene-titanium dioxide nanoparticle composite inks, developed the spin coating process, fabricated the necessary adhesive and conductive layers for tests, and conducted the morphology characterizations. Huawei designed the test setup and performed the radio-frequency performance tests.