Status and Trends in Silicon RF Technology

Abstract The current research and development activities in silicon radio-frequency (RF) technologies are first reviewed, accompanied by an illustration of the most pronounced shortcomings of conventional silicon technology in the integrability of RF functions at high GHz frequencies. In the discussion on active RF devices mainly CMOS is investigated due to great interest in this mass-production technology. Issues related to the integration of spiral inductors on silicon are addressed, stressing in particular the difficulty of RF substrate potential definition. Silicon micromachining techniques are highlighted as potential solutions to the integration of RF passives and to reduce substrate losses and cross-talk on silicon. It is explained that micromachining techniques are the best introduced to the silicon mainstream by using post-processing and minimum process complexity.

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