Aalto Electronics-ICT

Antenna characterization
Measurement sites for determining the radiation properties of antenna prototypes.
The anechoic chamber contains instrumentation for 2 – 60 GHz far-field and spherical near-field antenna measurements. The measurement distance is 5.5 m and the enclosure is shielded up to 18 GHz. The measurement instrumentation includes a 67 GHz network analyzer (Keysight N5227A).
The near-field scanner is mainly used for high gain millimetre and sub-millimetre antenna characterization. Main instruments of the system are:
- 1.5 m x 1.5 m planar near-field scanner (Near-Field Systems NSI-200V-5X5)
- Antenna range controller (Near-Field Systems Series A Controller)
- 50 GHz four-port vector network analyzer (Keysight N5225A PNA)
- 50 GHz - 1.1 THz mm-wave modules (VDI VNAX extension modules WR15+ to WR1.0)
by Microwave Vision Group is a compact near-field antenna measurement system for fast characterization of low frequency antennas up to 45 cm in diameter. The StarLab system at Aalto Electronics-ICT includes:
- Spherical measurement geometry
- 650 MHz - 6 GHz frequency range
- Software suite for passive antenna measurements
- Two movable walls of absorbers
- Standard gain horn antennas
- 6 GHz vector network analyzer (Keysight E5071C ENA)
The workshop has metal working machines and hand tools for mechanical prototyping and antenna fabrication. The workshop serves the whole Aalto Electronics-ICT infra.
Electronics test facilities
Measurement sites for radio engineering and for IC characterization.
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 Aalto Electronics-ICT 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.
Space Research and Satellite Projects
Cleanroom for nanosatellite building and a groundstation for missions.
The Space lab has electrical prototyping equipment and microwave measurement instruments up to roughly 6 GHz, along with a thermal vacuum chamber for tests in simulated space environment. It includes four measurement positions which can be equipped as needed. The Space lab and the adjacent modular clean room has been used to build Aalto-1, Aalto-2 and Suomi 100 satellite missions and is currently used to build the Foresail and Aalto-3 satellite missions. The main instruments of the Space lab include:
- Thermal vacuum chamber (Nanovac Galaxy TVC800)
- 6 GHz vector network analyzer (Agilent 8753ES)
- 4 GHz 4-channel digital oscilloscope (Rohde & Schwarz RTO1044)
- 500 MHz 4-channel digital oscilloscope (Rohde & Schwarz RTM1054)
- Helmholtz coil system (Bartington BH1300-C)
- Temperature chamber (Espec BTZ-175E)
- Power meters up to 18 GHz
- A set of signal generators, DC power supplies, multimeters, etc.
- 3D-printer (Ultimaker S5)
- Vacuum pump (HiCube 80 Eco DN63)
The Cleanroom is used to build the flight models in Aalto nanosatellite missions. It consists of:
- A 3 m x 3.7 m ISO Class 7 modular cleanroom
- Two ESD controlled workstations
The Groundstation equipment is used to control Aalto satellite missions. It consists of a control room with communications equipment and UHF- and S-band antennas on the building rooftop.
Contact
Aalto Electronics-ICT is open for external institutes and companies. Please contact Research Engineer Matti Vaaja (firstname.surname@aalto.fi, +358 50 430 1337) for terms and conditions.