High-performance and high-reliability SOT-6 packaged diplexer based on advanced IPD fabrication techniques

Abstract A diplexer offering the advantages of compact size, high performance, and high reliability is proposed on the basis of advanced integrated passive device (IPD) fabrication techniques. The proposed diplexer is developed by combining a third-order low-pass filter (LPF) and a third-order high-pass filter (HPF), which are designed on the basis of the elliptic function prototype low-pass filter. Primary components, such as inductors and capacitors, are designed and fabricated with high Q-factor and appropriate values, and they are subsequently used to construct a compact diplexer having a chip area of 900 μm × 1100 μm (0.009 λ 0  × 0.011 λ 0 , where λ 0 is the guided wavelength). In addition, a small-outline transistor (SOT-6) packaging method is adopted, and reliability tests (including temperature, humidity, vibration, and pressure) are conducted to guarantee long-term stability and commercial success. The packaged measurement results indicate excellent RF performance with insertion losses of 1.39 dB and 0.75 dB at operation bands of 0.9 GHz and 1.8 GHz, respectively. The return loss is lower than 10 dB from 0.5 GHz to 4.0 GHz, while the isolation is higher than 15 dB from 0.5 GHz to 3.0 GHz. Thus, it can be concluded that the proposed SOT-6 packaged diplexer is a promising candidate for GSM/CDMA applications. Synthetic solution of diplexer design, RF performance optimization, fabrication process, packaging, RF response measurement, and reliability test is particularly explained and analyzed in this work.

[1]  Michael J. Lancaster,et al.  All-resonator-based waveguide diplexer with cross-couplings , 2014 .

[2]  V. Boria,et al.  Substrate Integrated Waveguide Diplexer Based on Circular Triplet Combline Filters , 2015, IEEE Microwave and Wireless Components Letters.

[3]  Yong Li,et al.  High Selective Microstrip Bandpass Filter and Diplexer With Mixed Electromagnetic Coupling , 2015, IEEE Microwave and Wireless Components Letters.

[4]  Hui Chu,et al.  40/50 GHz diplexer design in LTCC technology , 2011 .

[5]  Jun-Mei Yan,et al.  Compact diplexer using microstrip half- and quarter-wavelength resonators , 2016 .

[6]  Gabriel M. Rebeiz,et al.  A 1.4–2.3-GHz Tunable Diplexer Based on Reconfigurable Matching Networks , 2015, IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques.

[7]  Yang Li,et al.  A chip-on-board packaged bandpass filter using cross-coupled topological optimised hairpin resonators for X-band radar application , 2015, Microelectron. J..

[8]  Young Chul Lee,et al.  A compact and low‐loss LTCC diplexer with high‐band selectivity and high isolation for dual‐band applications , 2010 .

[9]  Ching-Wen Tang,et al.  Design methodologies of LTCC bandpass filters, diplexer, and triplexer with transmission zeros , 2006 .

[10]  Changhua Chen,et al.  A Novel X-Band Diplexer Based on Overmoded Circular Waveguides for High-Power Microwaves , 2013, IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science.

[11]  Chien-Heng Chen,et al.  Novel 3D Space Partition Method for Triple WiMax multilayer LTCC diplexer IPD design with EM coupling sensitivity concerns , 2007, TENCON 2007 - 2007 IEEE Region 10 Conference.

[12]  Dong Chen,et al.  A Novel Planar Diplexer Using Slotline-Loaded Microstrip Ring Resonator , 2015, IEEE Microwave and Wireless Components Letters.

[13]  Venky Sundaram,et al.  Design and Demonstration of Ultra-Thin Glass 3D IPD Diplexers , 2016, 2016 IEEE 66th Electronic Components and Technology Conference (ECTC).

[14]  Lei Zhu,et al.  Triple-Mode Dielectric-Loaded Cylindrical Cavity Diplexer Using Novel Packaging Technique for LTE Base-Station Applications , 2016, IEEE Transactions on Components, Packaging and Manufacturing Technology.

[15]  Jens Bornemann,et al.  K-band backward diplexer in substrate integrated waveguide technology , 2015 .

[16]  Yong Fan,et al.  Compact wide-stopband diplexer using dual mode resonators , 2015 .

[17]  I. Bahl.  Lumped Elements for RF and Microwave Circuits , 2003 .

[18]  Tao Yang,et al.  Compact Quarter-Wave Resonator and Its Applications to Miniaturized Diplexer and Triplexer , 2011, IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques.

[19]  Lei Zhu,et al.  Triple-Mode Dielectric Resonator Diplexer for Base-Station Applications , 2015, IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques.

[20]  Tzyh-Ghuang Ma,et al.  On-Chip Miniaturized Diplexer Using Jointed Dual-Mode Right-/Left-Handed Synthesized Coplanar Waveguides on GIPD Process , 2014, IEEE Microwave and Wireless Components Letters.