About

Matteo Rinaldi is a Full Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Northeastern University. He is a leader in the fields of semiconductor devices and microsystems, with a focus on MEMS, piezoelectric, and acoustic devices for sensing, RF, and semiconductor systems. He serves as the Director of the Institute for NanoSystems Innovation (NanoSI) and the Kostas Nanotechnology Facility (KNF), where he leads research, infrastructure, and partnerships that span fundamental device research, scalable fabrication, and real-world deployment in sensing, communications, and emerging semiconductor applications. His work bridges device design, modeling, fabrication, and experimental validation, emphasizing scalable semiconductor processes and their translation into practical applications. Rinaldi has received numerous awards, including the IEEE International Frequency Control Symposium Best Student Paper Award, the S. J. Stein Prize, and the IEEE Sensors Council Early Career Award. He also received the Walter G. Cady Award from the IEEE International Frequency Control Symposium in 2025. In addition to his research, he provides leadership in semiconductor research infrastructure at Northeastern University, overseeing advanced nanofabrication, device integration, and characterization capabilities that support interdisciplinary research and collaborations with industry, government, and academia.

Research topics

• Physics
• Computer Science
• Engineering
• Materials science
• Optoelectronics
• Electrical engineering
• Acoustics
• Electronic engineering
• Composite material
• Optics
• Telecommunications
• Nanotechnology
• Computer network
• Engineering physics
• Particle physics
• Chromatography
• Quantum mechanics
• Nuclear physics
• Chemistry
• Condensed matter physics
• Systems engineering
• Chemical engineering
• Nuclear magnetic resonance
• Embedded system

Selected publications

• 62.6 GHz ScAlN solidly mounted acoustic resonators

  Applied Physics Letters · 2026-01-26

  articleOpen access

  We demonstrate a record-high 62.6 GHz solidly mounted acoustic resonator (SMR) incorporating a 67.6 nm scandium aluminum nitride (Sc0.3Al0.7N) piezoelectric layer on a 40 nm buried platinum (Pt) bottom electrode, positioned above an acoustic Bragg reflector composed of alternating SiO2 (28.2 nm) and Ta2O5 (24.3 nm) layers in 8.5 pairs. The Bragg reflector and piezoelectric stack above are designed to confine a third-order thickness-extensional bulk acoustic wave mode, while efficiently transducing with thickness-field excitation. The fabricated SMR exhibits an extracted piezoelectric coupling coefficient (k2) of 0.8% and a maximum Bode quality factor (Q) of 51 at 63 GHz, representing the highest operating frequency reported for an SMR to date. These results establish a pathway toward mmWave SMR devices for filters and resonators in next-generation RF front ends.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Programmable threshold sensing in wireless devices using Ising dynamics

  Nature Electronics · 2025-06-02

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Palladium-Coated Laterally Vibrating Resonators (LVRs) for Hydrogen Sensing

  ArXiv.org · 2025-09-02 · 1 citations

  preprintOpen accessSenior author

  This work presents a novel hydrogen sensor based on 30% scandium-doped aluminum nitride (ScAlN) laterally vibrating resonators (LVRs) functionalized with a palladium (Pd) thin film. The micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) device operates by detecting shifts in resonant frequency resulting from hydrogen absorption in the Pd layer. The sensor demonstrates a high mechanical quality factor (Qm) of 820, an electromechanical coupling coefficient (kt2) of 3.18%, and an enhanced responsivity of 26 Hz/ppm in the low-parts per million (ppm) range, making it highly suitable for hydrogen leak detection. Compared to existing MHz-range technologies, the sensor achieves up to 50x higher sensitivity, while also offering multi-frequency definition in a single lithographic step, minimal footprint, and the highest quality factor among comparable miniaturized platforms.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Laterally Excited Bulk Acoustic Wave (LBAW) X-Cut Lithium Niobate Resonators

  ArXiv.org · 2025-06-04

  preprintOpen accessSenior author

  In this work, Laterally excited Bulk Acoustic Wave (LBAW) resonators on X-cut Lithium Niobate (LiNbO3) and, for the first time their higher-order overtones (LOBAW) are demonstrated by embedding interdigitated electrodes recessed into the piezoelectric thin film, allowing to exploit both S0 and SH0 vibrational modes. This recessed electrode architecture decouples the dispersion relation from film thickness, enabling lithographic tuning of resonance frequency and on-chip multi-frequency scaling on a single substrate, while concurrently increasing static capacitance density (C0) and reducing ohmic losses (Rs). The excited SH0 modes exhibits Figures of Merit (FoM) of 437 at 673 MHz for the fundamental tone and 53 at 1.05 GHz for the overtone. The proposed architecture holds large potential for future 5G/6G advanced radio frequency front-end modules, enabling on-chip multi-frequency scaling and improved performance.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Lithium Niobate Acoustic Resonators Operating Beyond 900 °C

  2025-06-29

  articleSenior author

  In this paper, fundamental shear-horizontal <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$SH_{0}$</tex> mode Leaky Surface Acoustic Wave (LSAW) resonators on X-cut lithium niobate leveraging dense and robust electrodes such as gold and tungsten are demonstrated for extreme temperature operation in harsh environments. A novel post-processing approach based on in-band spurious mode tracking is introduced to enable reliable characterization under extreme parasitic loading during testing. Devices exhibit stable performance throughout multiple thermal cycles up to 1000 °C, with an extrapolated electromechanical coupling coefficient <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$k_{t}^{2}=25\%$</tex> and loaded quality factor <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$Q_{p}=12$</tex> at 1000 °C for tungsten devices, and <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$k_{t}^{2}=17\%,\ Q_{p}=100$</tex> at 900 °C for gold devices.

  PublisherDOI

• Ku-Band Alscn-on-Diamond SAW Resonators with Phase Velocity Above 8600 M/S

  2025-06-29 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access

  In this work, an Aluminum Scandium Nitride (AlScN) on Diamond Sezawa mode surface acoustic wave (SAW) platform for RF filtering at Ku-band (12–18 GHz) is demonstrated. Thanks to the high acoustic velocity and low-loss diamond substrate, the prototype resonator at 12.9 GHz achieves a high phase velocity <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$(\nu_{\mathrm{p}})$</tex> of 8671 mis, a maximum Bode-Q of 408, and coupling coefficient <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$(k_{\mathrm{e}\mathrm{f}\mathrm{f}}^{2})$</tex> of 2.1 %, outperforming high-velocity substrates such as SiC and sapphire by more than 20% in velocity. Resonators spanning 8 to 18 GHz are presented. The platform's high power handling above 12.5 dBm is also experimentally validated.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Plasmonically Enhanced Flexural-Mode AlScN Nanoplate Resonator as Uncooled and Ultrafast IR Detector with High Responsivity

  ArXiv.org · 2025-06-26

  preprintOpen accessSenior author

  This letter introduces a novel class of miniaturized, uncooled, and ultra-fast infrared (IR) resonant thermal detectors (RTDs) based on 30%-doped Aluminum Scandium Nitride (AlScN) nanoplates. Exploiting high electromechanical coupling, good thermal properties, and enhanced and selective IR absorption, the presented device aims to demonstrate significant advancements over the state-of-the-art IR RTDs. This single pixel combines compact footprint, high spectral selectivity and responsivity, reduced noise, and fast thermal response, allowing for the potential development of innovative IR thermal imagers through multi-pixel integration. The flexural nature of the actuated resonance mode eventually enables an interferometric optical readout, paving the way towards achieving extremely low Noise Equivalent Power levels. These results demonstrate a high IR responsivity of around 130 ppt/pW, a thermal time constant of around 330 us, and a large out-of-plane displacement. This work represents the first experimental integration on a resonating platform of plasmonic absorbers that utilize AlScN as dielectric layer.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Laterally Excited Bulk Acoustic Wave (LBAW) X-Cut Lithium Niobate Resonators

  2025-05-12

  articleSenior author

  In this work, Laterally excited Bulk Acoustic Wave (LBAW) resonators on X-cut Lithium Niobate (LiNbO<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3</inf>) and, for the first time their higher-order overtones (LOBAW) are demonstrated by embedding interdigitated electrodes recessed into the piezoelectric thin film, allowing to exploit both S<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">0</inf> and SH<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">0</inf> vibrational modes. This recessed electrode architecture decouples the dispersion relation from film thickness, enabling lithographic tuning of resonance frequency and on-chip multi-frequency scaling on a single substrate, while concurrently increasing static capacitance density (C<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">0</inf>) and reducing ohmic losses (R<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">s</inf>). The excited SH<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">0</inf> modes exhibits Figures of Merit (FoM) of 437 at 673 MHz for the fundamental tone and 53 at 1.05 GHz for the overtone. The proposed architecture holds large potential for future 5G/6G advanced radio frequency front-end modules, enabling on-chip multi-frequency scaling and improved performance.

  PublisherDOI

• High-performance solidly mounted bidimensional mode resonators (S2MRs) operating around 16 GHz

  ArXiv.org · 2025-05-20

  preprintOpen accessSenior author

  This paper reports on Solidly-Mounted Bidimensional Mode Resonators (S2MRs) utilizing 30% Scandium-doped Aluminum Nitride on Silicon Carbide, operating near 16 GHz. Experimental results show mechanical quality factors up to 380, electromechanical coupling coefficients of 4%, and an overall Figure of Merit (FOM=Q *kt2) exceeding 15. Additionally, Q Bode calculation is reported along with an analysis of the piezoelectric energy confinement coefficient showing the impact of thickness-to-wavelength ratio on the acoustic wave confinement. Finally, the devices demonstrate power handling capabilities greater than 20 dBm while achieving close impedance matching to 50 Ohm. These features make them strong candidates for commercial, military, and harsh-environment applications like satellite communications (SATCOM) and Active Electronically Scanned Arrays (AESA).

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Theoretical insights on nuclear double parton distributions

  The European Physical Journal C · 2025-11-07 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access

  Abstract In this paper, we address double parton scattering (DPS) in pA collisions. Within the Light-Front approach, we formally derive the two contributions to the nuclear double parton distribution (DPD), namely: DPS1, involving two partons from the same nucleon, and DPS2, where the two partons belong to different parent nucleons. We then generalize the sum rule for hadron DPDs to the nuclear case and analytically show how all contributions combine to give the expected results. In addition partial sum rules for the DPDs related to DPS1 and DPS2 mechanisms are discussed for the first time. The deuteron system is considered for the first calculation of the nuclear DPD by using a realistic wave function obtained from the very refined nucleon-nucleon AV18 potential, embedded in a rigorous Poincaré covariant formalism. Results are used to test sum rules and properly verify that DPS1 contribution compares with the DPS2 one, although smaller. We also introduce EMC-like ratios involving nuclear and free DPDs to address the potential role of DPS in understanding in depth the EMC effect.

  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• CAREER: Nano Electro Mechanical Resonant Sensing Platform for Chip Scale, High Resolution and Ultra-Fast Terahertz Spectroscopy and Imaging

  NSF · $430k · 2014–2020

• PFI-RP: Zero-power Wireless Flame Detector for Ubiquitous Fire Monitoring

  NSF · $550k · 2020–2023

Frequent coauthors

• Caterina M. Gallippi

  1172 shared

• Robert J. McGough

  Michigan State University

  1172 shared

• Mark Schafer -President

  Sorbonne Université

  1172 shared

• Dan Stevens

  Drexel University

  1172 shared

• Pascale Defraigne

  1172 shared

• Alfred C. H. Yu

  United States Army Combat Capabilities Development Command

  1172 shared

• Hassan Rivaz

  Concordia University

  1172 shared

• Danyang Wang

  UNSW Sydney

  1172 shared

Labs

• Northeastern Sensors & Nano Systems LaboratoryPI

Education

• PhD, Electrical and Systems Engineering

  University of Pennsylvania

  2010

Awards & honors

• IEEE International Frequency Control Symposium (IFCS) 2025 W…
• Northeastern University Global Network Accelerator Award (20…
• Optica Fellow
• IEEE Sensors Council Early Career Award
• Best Student Paper Award at the 2009 IEEE International Freq…