High-Q integrated RF passives and micromechanical capacitors on silicon

The PASSI/spl trade/ technology platform is described for the integration of low-loss inductors, capacitors, and MEMS on high-ohmic Si substrates. Using this platform the board space area taken up by e.g. impedance matching circuits can be reduced by 50%. The losses of passives induced by the semi-conducting Si substrate can effectively be suppressed using a combination of surface amorphisation and e-beam irradiation. The incorporation of MEM tuneable capacitors in high-Q inductor-capacitor networks is demonstrated.