Cristian Cassella

Associate Professor,  Electrical and Computer Engineering

Contact

Office

  • 422 ISEC
  • 617.373.7509

Research Focus

Acoustic resonators, nonreciprocal components, zero-power sensors for IoT, nonlinear dynamics, ultrasonic transducers

Education

  • PhD, Carnegie Mellon University, 2015

Honors & Awards

Research Overview

Acoustic resonators, nonreciprocal components, zero-power sensors for IoT, nonlinear dynamics, ultrasonic transducers

Microsystems Radio Frequency Laboratory

Our goal is to explore unveiled fundamental physics, in micro and nano devices, to surpass the performance limitations of currently available communication and sensing systems.

Microsystems Radio Frequency Laboratory

Selected Research Projects

Department Research Areas

Selected Publications

  • X. Zhao, O. Kaya, T. Maggioli and C. Cassella, “Multipurpose Acoustic Metamaterial Anchors for Aluminum Scandium Nitride Contour Mode Resonators,” in Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems, doi: 10.1109/JMEMS.2024.3399593.
  • H.M.E. Hussein, M. Rinaldi, M. Onabajo, C. Cassella, A chip-less and battery-less subharmonic tag for wireless sensing with parametrically enhanced sensitivity and dynamic range. Sci Rep 11, 3782 (2021).
  • X. Zhao, L. Colombo, Cristian Cassella, Aluminum Nitride Two-Dimensional-Resonant-Rods, Applied Physics Letters, 116(14), 2020, 143504
  • H.M. Hussein, M.A. Ibrahim, G. Michetti, M. Rinaldi, M. Onabajo, C. Cassella, Systematic Synthesis and Design of Ultra-Low Threshold 2:1 Parametric Frequency Dividers, IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques, 2020
  • C. Cassella, J. Segovia-Fernandez, High K2⁄t Exceeding 6.4% Through Metal Frames in Aluminum Nitride 2-D Mode Resonators, IEEE transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control 66(5), 2019, 958-964
  • J.M. Puder, J.S. Pulskamp, R.R. Rudy, C. Cassella, M. Rinaldi, G. Chen, S. Bhave, R.G. Polcawich Rapid Harmonic Analysis of Piezoelectric MEMS Resonators, IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonic Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control, 6(65), 2018, 979-990
  • G. Chen, C. Cassella, T. Wu, M. Rinaldi, Single-Chip Multi-Frequency Wideband Filters Based on Aluminum Nitride Cross-Sectional Lamé Mode Resonators with Thick and Apodized Electrodes, IEEE Micro Electro Mechanical Systems, 2018, 775-778
Cristian Cassella

Faculty

May 01, 2025

Cassella Receives EFTF Young Scientist Award

ECE Associate Professor Cristian Cassella is the recipient of the European Frequency and Time Forum (EFTF) Young Scientist Award “for his seminal research on metamaterials in RF microacoustics as well as for his pioneering contributions on long-range remote sensors and lower-noise frequency generators through parametric nonlinearities.”

Faculty

Apr 18, 2025

New Class of CMOS Chips To Address Quantum Computing Bottlenecks

ECE Associate Professor Cristian Cassella and Professor Marvin Onabajo are developing CMOS-based chips that are smaller and more energy efficient than current technology used to address quantum computing bottlenecks. High school students in Northeastern’s Young Scholars program will participate in this project.

Faculty

Apr 03, 2025

Making Wireless Signals More Resistant to Interference

ECE Associate Professor Cristian Cassella and Assistant Professor Xufeng Zhang were awarded a $500,000 NSF grant for “Boosting Radios’ ReSilience to Interference by Harnessing Magnon-Phonon Coupling In the First ElectromechanicaL SpinPhonic Devices (SHIELD).”  They are enhancing a wireless transceiver’s resilience against electromagnetic interference in the 5G and 6G realms in order to transmit data at extremely high rates.

Cristian Cassella

Faculty

Mar 18, 2025

Patent for Improved RF Filtering Technology

ECE Associate Professor Cristian Cassella was awarded a patent for “Two dimensional rod resonator for RF filtering.”

Faculty

Feb 18, 2025

$2M DARPA Award for MEMS Inertial Sensor To Revolutionize Navigation Systems

ECE Associate Professor Cristian Cassella (PI), Professor Matteo Rinaldi, Professor David Horsley, and Assistant Professor Benyamin Davaji were awarded a $2 million DARPA grant for “Enabling Higher Scale Factors in Gyroscopes Through soFt and LacAlized interface-States in microelectromecHanical resonators (FLASH).”

Faculty

Jan 03, 2025

Low-Power Computing for Complex Problems

ECE Associate Professor Cristian Cassella and Professor Marvin Onabajo were awarded a $600,000 NSF grant for “Low-Power Computing Based on Programmable Multidimensional Circuits.”

Faculty

Nov 25, 2024

Quantum Advancements in Light-Matter Interaction

ECE Assistant Professor Marco Colangelo and Associate Professor Cristian Cassella received a $178,896 DARPA grant for their groundbreaking research project, “SuperEMech: Superconducting Electro-Mechanical Platform for Light-Matter Interactions.”

Faculty

Nov 07, 2024

Advancing Sensing Technology With Microdevices

ECE Assistant Professors Marco Colangelo, Benyamin Davaji, and Associate Professor Cristian Cassella had their research on “Localized Topological States Beyond Fano Resonances via Counter-propagating Wave Mode Conversion in Piezoelectric Microelectromechanical Devices” published in Nature Communications.

Cristian Cassella

Faculty

Jul 10, 2024

Patent for Advanced Acoustic Metamaterials Enhancing RF Front-End Performance

ECE Associate Professor Cristian Cassella was awarded a patent for “High quality factor integrated acoustic resonant metamaterials with large frequency tuning range for reconfigurable radio-frequency front-ends.”

Cristian Cassella

Faculty

Jul 03, 2024

Improving the Range of Radio Frequencies

ECE Associate Professor Cristian Cassella’s research on “Multipurpose Acoustic Metamaterial Anchors for Aluminum Scandium Nitride Contour Mode Resonators” was published in the Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems and will be featured on the cover when it is printed.

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