Improving the Performance of 110 GHz Membrane-Based Interconnects on Silicon: Modeling, Measurements, and Uncertainty Analysis

In this paper, we describe the development of broadband low-loss interconnects built-in membrane technology on different silicon substrates. We discuss the design of the test structures, which were fabricated and measured in a frequency range from 0.1 to 110 GHz, and present a detailed uncertainty analysis of the membrane coplanar waveguide (CPW) part. Using high-resistivity silicon as a carrier substrate for the membrane CPW, we obtain excellent agreement between the measurements and calculations of the propagation constant in the entire frequency range. The deviations between the measurements and calculations fall within the bounds predicted by the uncertainty analysis.

[1]  W. Heinrich,et al.  Quasi-TEM description of MMIC coplanar lines including conductor-loss effects , 1993 .

[2]  Karsten Kuhlmann,et al.  Optimized coplanar waveguides in membrane technology for wideband on-wafer calibrations , 2011, 2011 IEEE 20th Conference on Electrical Performance of Electronic Packaging and Systems.

[3]  E. Grotelüschen,et al.  Full-wave analysis and analytical formulas for the line parameters of transmission lines on semiconductor substrates , 1993, Integr..

[4]  R. Marks.  A multiline method of network analyzer calibration , 1991 .

[5]  T. Tischler,et al.  Modeling dispersion and radiation characteristics of conductor-backed CPW with finite ground width , 2000, IMS 2000.

[6]  Dylan F. Williams,et al.  CHARACTERISTIC IMPEDANCE MEASUREMENT ON SILICON , 2000 .

[7]  K. Kuhlmann,et al.  Broadband performance of 110 GHz interconnects built in HRSi-based membrane technology , 2012, 2012 IEEE 16th Workshop on Signal and Power Integrity (SPI).

[8]  Gabriel M. Rebeiz,et al.  Micromachined W-band filters , 1996 .

[9]  U. Arz,et al.  Monte-Carlo analysis of measurement uncertainties for on-wafer thru-reflect-line calibrations , 2008, IMS 2008.

[11]  Yong-Kweon Kim,et al.  A new micromachined overlay CPW structure with low attenuation over wide impedance ranges and its application to low-pass filters , 2001 .

[12]  A. Ferrero,et al.  Measurement uncertainty , 2006, IEEE Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine.

[13]  B.D. Hall,et al.  A computational technique for evaluating and propagating the uncertainty of complex-valued quantities , 2002, 60th ARFTG Conference Digest, Fall 2002..

[14]  Karsten Kuhlmann,et al.  Wideband electromagnetic modeling of coplanar waveguides fabricated in membrane technology , 2011, 2011 IEEE 15th Workshop on Signal Propagation on Interconnects (SPI).

[15]  B D Hall,et al.  On the propagation of uncertainty in complex-valued quantities , 2004 .