MERL - Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories

Electronic and Photonic Devices

Pursuing theoretical and experimental research for next generation devices.

We explore various device technologies, material science and device architectures to dramatically improve power and RF device performance to achieve higher efficiency, high linearity and much wider frequency band. We develop novel photonic integrated circuits to improve performance and reduce cost in optical communications applications.

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  • Researchers

  • Awards

    •  AWARD    Toshiaki Koike-Akino elected Fellow of Optica
      Date: November 18, 2021
      Awarded to: Toshiaki Koike-Akino
      MERL Contact: Toshiaki Koike-Akino
      Research Areas: Communications, Electronic and Photonic Devices, Signal Processing
      Brief
      • Toshiaki Koike-Akino's research activities in communications, error control coding and optical technologies at MERL have earned him election as a Fellow Member of Optica (formerly OSA), the foremost professional association in optics and photonics worldwide. Fellow membership in Optica is limited to no more than ten percent of the membership and is reserved for members who have served with distinction in the advancement of optics and photonics. Koike-Akino is one of 106 members from 24 countries in Optica’s 2022 Fellows Class, elected during the Board of Directors of Optica meeting held on 2nd of November, 2021.

        “Congratulations to the 2022 Optica Fellows,” said 2021 President Connie Chang-Hasnain, University of California, Berkeley, USA. “These members exemplify what it means to be a leader in optics and photonics. Your election, by your peers, confirms the important contributions made within our field. Thank you for your dedication to Optica, and for advancing the science of light.”

        Koike-Akino's elevation to Fellow is specifically “for outstanding and innovative contributions to R&D in enabling technologies for optical communications, including nonlinear equalizers, high-dimensional modulations, and FEC (Forward Error Correction),” said Meredith Smith, Director, Optica Awards and Honors Office. "Again, congratulations on joining this esteemed group of Optica members."

        About Optica

        Optica (formerly OSA) is dedicated to promoting the generation, application, archiving and dissemination of knowledge in optics and photonics worldwide. Founded in 1916, it is the leading organization for scientists, engineers, business professionals, students and others interested in the science of light. Optica’s renowned publications, meetings, online resources and in-person activities fuel discoveries, shape real-life applications and accelerate scientific, technical and educational achievement.
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    •  AWARD    MERL researchers presented 5 papers at the 2016 Optical Fiber Communication Conference (OFC), including one "Top Scored" paper
      Date: March 24, 2016
      Awarded to: Toshiaki Koike-Akino, Keisuke Kojima, David S. Millar, Kieran Parsons, Tsuyoshi Yoshida, Takashi Sugihara
      MERL Contacts: Toshiaki Koike-Akino; Kieran Parsons
      Research Areas: Communications, Electronic and Photonic Devices, Signal Processing
      Brief
      • Five papers from the Optical Comms team were presented at the 2016 Optical Fiber Conference (OFC) held in Anaheim, USA in March 2016. The papers relate to enhanced modulation formats, constellation shaping, chromatic dispersion estimation, low complexity adaptive equalization and coding for coherent optical links. The top-scored paper studied optimal selection of coding and modulation sets to jointly maximize nonlinear tolerance and spectral efficiency.
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  • News & Events

    •  NEWS    Toshiaki Koike-Akino gave an invited lecture to USPTO on advanced photonics
      Date: May 4, 2022
      MERL Contact: Toshiaki Koike-Akino
      Research Areas: Artificial Intelligence, Communications, Electronic and Photonic Devices, Machine Learning, Optimization, Signal Processing
      Brief
      • Toshiaki Koike-Akino gave an invited lecture on advanced photonic devices at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Technology Fair on May 4, 2022. Topics of the lecture included the recent progress of applied artificial intelligence (AI) technologies for optical systems, nano-photonic devices, and quantum technology. During the 2-hour interactive online presentation, he lectured to more than 200 patent examiner participants.

        USPTO Tech Fair Organizer mentioned:
        "Thank you very much for representing Advanced Photonic Devices at this year’s Technology Center 2800 Virtual Tech Fair held May 4th, 2022. Tech Fair is an important part of the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s Patent Examiner Technical Training Program (PETTP). Having a scientifically well-trained examiner workforce and ensuring the quality, consistency, and reliability of issued patents are top priorities at the USPTO. The PETTP is designed to achieve those priorities by giving examiners direct access to technical experts who are willing to share their knowledge about prior art and industry standards for both emerging and established technologies. Experts like yourself help to maintain our high quality of patent examination by keeping examiners updated on technologies and innovations pertinent to their field of examination.
        We very much appreciate your efforts, time, and contributions."
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    •  NEWS    Rui Ma gives an Invited Talk on Digital Intensive PA/Transmitter for RF Communications Workshop at IMS2022
      Date: June 19, 2022
      MERL Contact: Rui Ma
      Research Areas: Communications, Electronic and Photonic Devices, Machine Learning
      Brief
      • MERL Researcher Rui Ma will give an invited talk titled "All Digital Transmitter with GaN Switching Mode Power Amplifiers"at a technical workshop during International Microwave Symposium (IMS)2022. This IMS workshop (WSN) invites members from academia and industry to discuss the latest development activities in the area of digital-intensive power amplifiers and transmitters for RF communications.

        In addition, Dr. Rui Ma is chairing a Technical Session(We2C) on "AI/ML on RF and mmWave Applications" at IMS2022.

        IMS is the flagship annual conference of IEEE Microwave Theory and Technology Society(MTT-S).

        Learn more here:
        Sessions
        Workshops
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  • Internships

    • MD1561: Desgn and fabrication of power devices in power electronics or RF

      MERL is seeking a highly motivated, qualified individual to join our 3-month internship program to carry out research in the area of power electronics and RF semiconductors devices. The ideal candidate should have a significant background in the simulation and design of a 2D and 3D GaN devices using Matlab and TCAD. Proficiency in device semiconductor modeling or hands-on experience in GaN device fabrication processes and a deep knowledge of negative capacitance would be a great asset. Candidates who hold a PhD or in their senior years of a Ph.D. program are encouraged to apply.

    • MD1648: THz Electronic Sensing

      MERL is looking for a senior Ph.D. student to join our team to conduct application-motivated research and experiments. The candidate must have hands-on practical lab experiment experience on millimeter-wave, sub-THz, or THz for sensing, radar, and other applications. Skills of using RF/Microwave Lab equipment are necessary. Knowledge of solid-state device physics, high frequency, and high speed integrated circuit (IC) chip design, and signal processing is desired. The internship is expected to be 3-6 months, starting date is flexible after September.

    • MD1757: ML based Digital Pre-distortion (DPD) for PA

      MERL is looking for a talented intern to work on the next generation Digital-predistortion algorithms for power amplifier linearization such as 5G. The development of a DPD system involves aspects of signal processing and statistical algorithm design, RF components and instrumentation, digital hardware and software. It is therefore both a challenging and intellectually rewarding experience. This will involve MATLAB coding, interfacing to test equipment such as power sources, signal generators and analyzers and construction and calibration of RF component assemblies. The ideal candidate should have knowledge and experience in adaptive signal processing, machine learning, and radio communication. Good practical laboratory skills are needed. RF semiconductor devices and circuit knowledge is a plus. Duration is 3 to 6 months.


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  • Recent Publications

    •  Teo, K.H., "Summary of IEDM Conference," Tech. Rep. TR2022-051, Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, May 2022.
      BibTeX TR2022-051 PDF
      • @techreport{Teo2022may,
      • author = {Teo, Koon Hoo},
      • title = {Summary of IEDM Conference},
      • institution = {Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories},
      • year = 2022,
      • month = may,
      • url = {https://www.merl.com/publications/TR2022-051}
      • }
    •  Zhu, D., Kojima, K., Koike-Akino, T., Brand, M.E., "Global Phase Correction Improves Metalens Efficiency", Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics (CLEO), May 2022.
      BibTeX TR2022-049 PDF
      • @inproceedings{Zhu2022may,
      • author = {Zhu, Dayu and Kojima, Keisuke and Koike-Akino, Toshiaki and Brand, Matthew E.},
      • title = {Global Phase Correction Improves Metalens Efficiency},
      • booktitle = {Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics (CLEO)},
      • year = 2022,
      • month = may,
      • url = {https://www.merl.com/publications/TR2022-049}
      • }
    •  Jung, M., Kojima, K., Koike-Akino, T., Wang, Y., Zhu, D., Brand, M.E., "Finding the Right Deep Neural Network Model for Efficient Design of Tunable Nanophotonic Devices", Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics (CLEO), May 2022.
      BibTeX TR2022-047 PDF Video Presentation
      • @inproceedings{Jung2022may,
      • author = {Jung, Minwoo and Kojima, Keisuke and Koike-Akino, Toshiaki and Wang, Ye and Zhu, Dayu and Brand, Matthew E.},
      • title = {Finding the Right Deep Neural Network Model for Efficient Design of Tunable Nanophotonic Devices},
      • booktitle = {Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics (CLEO)},
      • year = 2022,
      • month = may,
      • url = {https://www.merl.com/publications/TR2022-047}
      • }
    •  Koike-Akino, T., Kojima, K., Wang, Y., "AutoML Hyperparameter Tuning of Generative DNN Architecture for Nanophotonic Device Design", Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics (CLEO), May 2022.
      BibTeX TR2022-046 PDF Presentation
      • @inproceedings{Koike-Akino2022may3,
      • author = {Koike-Akino, Toshiaki and Kojima, Keisuke and Wang, Ye},
      • title = {AutoML Hyperparameter Tuning of Generative DNN Architecture for Nanophotonic Device Design},
      • booktitle = {Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics (CLEO)},
      • year = 2022,
      • month = may,
      • url = {https://www.merl.com/publications/TR2022-046}
      • }
    •  Cao, W., Benosman, M., Zhang, X., Ma, R., "Domain Knowledge-Based Automated Analog Circuit Design with Deep Reinforcement Learning", AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence, February 2022.
      BibTeX TR2022-017 PDF
      • @inproceedings{Cao2022feb,
      • author = {Cao, Weidong and Benosman, Mouhacine and Zhang, Xuan and Ma, Rui},
      • title = {Domain Knowledge-Based Automated Analog Circuit Design with Deep Reinforcement Learning},
      • booktitle = {AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence},
      • year = 2022,
      • month = feb,
      • url = {https://www.merl.com/publications/TR2022-017}
      • }
    •  Kantana, C., Ma, R., Benosman, M., Komatsuzaki, Y., Yamanaka, K., "A Hybrid Heuristic Search Control Assisted Optimization of Dual-Input Doherty Power Amplifier", European Microwave Conference 2021, February 2022.
      BibTeX TR2022-012 PDF
      • @inproceedings{Kantana2022feb,
      • author = {Kantana, Chouaib and Ma, Rui and Benosman, Mouhacine and Komatsuzaki, Yuji and Yamanaka, Koji},
      • title = {A Hybrid Heuristic Search Control Assisted Optimization of Dual-Input Doherty Power Amplifier},
      • booktitle = {European Microwave Conference 2021},
      • year = 2022,
      • month = feb,
      • url = {https://www.merl.com/publications/TR2022-012}
      • }
    •  Zhu, X., Yuan, L., Kim, K.J., Li, Q., Zhang, J., "Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface-Assisted Spatial Scattering Modulation", IEEE Communications Letters, January 2022.
      BibTeX TR2022-008 PDF
      • @article{Zhu2022jan,
      • author = {Zhu, Xusheng and Yuan, Lei and Kim, Kyeong Jin and Li, Qingqing and Zhang, Jiliang},
      • title = {Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface-Assisted Spatial Scattering Modulation},
      • journal = {IEEE Communications Letters},
      • year = 2022,
      • month = jan,
      • url = {https://www.merl.com/publications/TR2022-008}
      • }
    •  De Silva, U., Ma, R., Koike-Akino, T., Yamashita, A., Nakamizo, H., "A Modular 1D-CNN Architecture for Real-time Digital Pre-distortion", IEEE Radio and Wireless Symposium (RWS) 2022, January 2022.
      BibTeX TR2022-007 PDF
      • @inproceedings{DeSilva2022jan,
      • author = {De Silva, Udara and Ma, Rui and Koike-Akino, Toshiaki and Yamashita, Ao and Nakamizo, Hideyuki},
      • title = {A Modular 1D-CNN Architecture for Real-time Digital Pre-distortion},
      • booktitle = {IEEE Radio and Wireless Symposium (RWS) 2022},
      • year = 2022,
      • month = jan,
      • issn = {2473-4640},
      • isbn = {978-1-6654-3472-0},
      • url = {https://www.merl.com/publications/TR2022-007}
      • }
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