Micromachined antennas for integration with silicon based active devices

In this thesis micromachined antennas suitable for on-chip integration with silicon based active devices are treated. The emphasis is put on compact 24 GHz antennas, capable of being integrated in commercial SiliconGermanium (SiGe) processes using low temperature post processing micromachining techniques. Antenna types covered are the slot loop antenna, wire loop antenna, meandered dipole and the inverted F antenna. The antennas have been implemented on surface and bulk micromachined low resistivity silicon substrates. It is found that the bulk micromachining method yields antennas with improved efficiency compared to antennas relying on thick dielectrics for reduction of substrate losses. Two patch antennas, suitable for wafer level integration with actice devices are covered. A 60 GHz micromachined aperture coupled patch antenna with a bandwidth of 59-64 GHz is presented. A novel 24 GHz differentially fed patch antenna, manufactured using a thick organic dielectric, is modelled with a modified transmission line method. Low Temperature Co-fired Ceramic (LTCC) and glob-top packaging for integrated antennas is evaluated. Epoxy based glob tops are found to have lower losses than silicone based ones. Finally, crosstalk between the integrated antenna and simple on-chip wire interconnects is analyzed by simulations for slot antennas manufactured in a SiGe process. It is noted that by proper connection of the antenna to the semiconductor substrate a high degree of isolation can be obtained.

[1]  A.B.M.H. Rashid,et al.  High transmission gain integrated antenna on extremely high resistivity Si for ULSI wireless interconnect , 2002, IEEE Electron Device Letters.

[2]  J. R. James,et al.  Mobile Antenna Systems Handbook , 2001 .

[3]  H. Schumacher,et al.  Wafer Level Integration of a 24 GHz Differential SiGe-MMIC Oscillator with a Patch Antenna using BCB as a Dielectric Layer , 2003, 2003 33rd European Microwave Conference, 2003.

[4]  Jean-Marc Laheurte,et al.  Compact oscillating slot loop antenna with conductor backing , 1996 .

[5]  Erik O. Hammerstad,et al.  Equations for Microstrip Circuit Design , 1975, 1975 5th European Microwave Conference.

[6]  Anders Rydberg,et al.  24 GHz ISM-band antennas on surface micromachined substrates for integration with a commercial SiGe process , 2003 .

[7]  H. Schumacher,et al.  Wafer level integration of a 24 GHz and 34 GHz differential SiGe-MMIC oscillator with a loop antenna on a BCB membrane , 2003, IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium Digest, 2003.

[8]  J. Graffeuil,et al.  Minimization of passive circuits losses realized on low resistivity silicon using micro-machining techniques and thick polymer layers , 2003, IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium Digest, 2003.

[9]  M. Ali,et al.  A meander-line bow-tie antenna , 1996, IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society International Symposium. 1996 Digest.

[10]  I. Wolff,et al.  Bandwidth and radiation properties of internal handset antennas , 2000, IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society International Symposium. Transmitting Waves of Progress to the Next Millennium. 2000 Digest. Held in conjunction with: USNC/URSI National Radio Science Meeting (C.

[11]  Ronold W. P. King,et al.  Transmission-line missile antennas , 1958 .

[12]  Linda P. B. Katehi,et al.  Micromachined patch antennas , 1998 .

[13]  R. Bansal,et al.  Antenna theory; analysis and design , 1984, Proceedings of the IEEE.

[14]  David Dubuc,et al.  The design of membrane-supported millimeter-wave antennas , 2003, 2003 International Semiconductor Conference. CAS 2003 Proceedings (IEEE Cat. No.03TH8676).

[15]  N.R.S. Simons,et al.  Measurement techniques for integrated-circuit slot antennas , 1997 .

[16]  K. Bean,et al.  Anisotropic etching of silicon , 1978, IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices.

[17]  T. Tsukiji,et al.  On polygonal loop antennas , 1980 .

[18]  F. Touati,et al.  On-chip integration of dipole antenna and VCO using standard BiCMOS technology for 10 GHz applications , 2003, ESSCIRC 2004 - 29th European Solid-State Circuits Conference (IEEE Cat. No.03EX705).

[19]  Junji Yamauchi,et al.  Shortening ratios of modified dipole antennas , 1984 .

[20]  Oscillator DesignGuide.  Advanced Design System 2002 , 2000 .

[21]  P. S. Hall,et al.  Silicon active slot loop antenna with micromachined trenches , 1999 .

[22]  H. Schumacher,et al.  A single-chip 24 GHz receiver front-end using a commercially available SiGe HBT foundry process , 2002, 2002 IEEE Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits (RFIC) Symposium. Digest of Papers (Cat. No.02CH37280).

[23]  Zhi Ning Chen.  Note on impedance characteristics of L‐shaped wire monopole antenna , 2000 .

[24]  Henry G. Booker,et al.  Slot aerials and their relation to complementary wire aerials (Babinet's principle) , 1946 .

[25]  Y.-D. Lin,et al.  Integrated antennas on Si, proton-implanted Si and Si-on-quartz , 2001, International Electron Devices Meeting. Technical Digest (Cat. No.01CH37224).

[26]  Mohamed Himdi,et al.  Transmission line analysis of nonlinear slot coupled microstrip antenna , 1992 .

[27]  J. M. Noworolski,et al.  Silicon fusion bonding and deep reactive ion etching: a new technology for microstructures , 1996 .

[28]  C. Terret,et al.  Transmission line analysis of aperture-coupled microstrip antenna , 1989 .

[29]  Carlos Camacho-Peñalosa,et al.  Dual-band, single CPW port, planar-slot antenna , 2003 .

[30]  Chih-Ming Hung,et al.  Intra-chip wireless interconnect for clock distribution implemented with integrated antennas, receivers, and transmitters , 2002, IEEE J. Solid State Circuits.

[31]  Kai Chang,et al.  Microwave Ring Circuits and Antennas , 1996 .

[32]  P. Pons,et al.  Compact circularly polarized radiating element for Ka-band satellite communications , 2002, IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society International Symposium (IEEE Cat. No.02CH37313).