Silicon RFCMOS SOI technology with above-IC MEMS integration for front end wireless applications

Costa, J.; Ivanov, Tony; Carroll, M. S.; Hammond, J.M.; Glass, E.; Jorgenson, J.; Denning, D.; Kerr, D.; Reed, Jason D.; Ren, Qiushi; Crist, S. C.; Mercier, T.; Kim, S.; McKay, Thomas; Gorisse, P.; Gering, J.

doi:10.1109/bipol.2008.4662744

Cited by 11 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…Depending on the vendo chosen there may be individual power amplifiers mobile handsets to mental influences, n cycles. Several ket [1][2][3][4][5][6]. As a new impact of tunable f modern radios is ont end of modern equency bands of ny cases, there is a l countries.…”

Section: Handset Rf Front Endsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrated tunable systems for scalable 4G radios

Morris¹,

Steel²

2013

2013 IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium Digest (MTT)

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Tunable elements have been de handsets since 2011 to improve radiate compensate for environmental influences on an shrink antenna volumes and shorten design cy challenge facing the RF front end in modern proliferation of frequency bands for LTE syste global roaming but also for local services. This expansion in the quantity of filters and related has an impact on overall performance, parti and cost. We present details on development fully tunable front ends that will enable highly and compact radio implementations in future m Index Terms -tunable circuits and devices RLC circuits, radio-frequency micro-electro-me

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Section: Handset Rf Front Endsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrated tunable systems for scalable 4G radios

Morris¹,

Steel²

2013

2013 IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium Digest (MTT)

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“…Although highly reliable MEMS switches using electrostatic actuation have been realized [2,3], their actuation voltages are 60-90 V. This is because a large contact force is necessary for sustaining a low contact resistance through quite a lot of switching cycles. A large restoring force is also required to avoid the stiction problem, so reducing the stiffness of the movable part is not allowed.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A highly reliable single-crystal silicon RF-MEMS switch using Au sub-micron particles for wafer level LTCC cap packaging

Katsuki

Nakatani

Okuda

et al. 2012

2012 2nd IEEE CPMT Symposium Japan

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This paper presents a small packaged, reliable and low-voltage driven RF-MEMS switch for wireless communication. We developed novel fabrication process of an RF-MEMS switch using a PZT actuator without a backside cavity to realize wafer-level-packaging (WLP). We also developed organic-free WLP process using sub-micron Au particles simultaneously to contact electrically and to seal hermetically with a low temperature co-fired ceramics (LTCC) wafer as a cap on a multilevel height RF switch. As a result, we obtained a small packaged SPST switch, which is in the small size of 1.4 x 0.9 x 0.8 mm. The RF-MEMS switch operated keeping a low contact resistance (<3 Ω) up to 1 billion cycles at a low-power condition (DC 1 mW). IntroductionRF-MEMS switches are attractive due to their low insertion loss, high isolation, and excellent linearity[1]. However, none of the MEMS switches have been commercially assembled for mobile phones yet because switches in mobile applications are required for a low-voltage operation less than 10-20 voltage and long switch lifetime more than 10^9-10^10 cycles.Although highly reliable MEMS switches using electrostatic actuation have been realized [2,3], their actuation voltages are 60-90 V. This is because a large contact force is necessary for sustaining a low contact resistance through quite a lot of switching cycles. A large restoring force is also required to avoid the stiction problem, so reducing the stiffness of the movable part is not allowed.In the other hand, several piezoelectric actuated MEMS switches with low-voltage actuation of less than 15 V have been demonstrated [4,5], however the switch lifetime is referred only a little. One of the reason is that the beams of piezoelectric actuators are SiO2 thin films, therefore it is difficult to realize a large restoring force.We have already reported an RF-MEMS switch that had a stiff movable beam based on a single crystal silicon (SCS) using a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer and with a piezoelectric actuator to realize high reliability [6]. However, we formed a cavity using backside deep RIE in a handle substrate for our conventional switch, and it was then impossible for it to be hermetically sealed with a cap wafer.In this work, we developed novel fabrication process without a backside cavity and realized WLP using an LTCC cap wafer.

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“…However, up until now, sensors and actuators are often realized by mechanical microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) using microfabrication technologies on rigid wafer substrates made of silicon, gallium arsenide, or other semiconducting materials. The same applies to microcontrollers based on CMOS technology [ 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ]. Furthermore, the standard technology for the integration of sensors, actuators and microcontrollers into a circuit are rigid printed circuit boards (PCB) based on materials such as FR4.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Paradigm Changing Integration Technology for the Production of Flexible Electronics by Transferring Structures, Dies and Electrical Components from Rigid to Flexible Substrates

et al. 2023

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Emerging trends like the Internet of Things require an increasing number of different sensors, actuators and electronic devices. To enable new applications, such as wearables and electronic skins, flexible sensor technologies are required. However, established technologies for the fabrication of sensors and actuators, as well as the related packaging, are based on rigid substrates, i.e., silicon wafer substrates and printed circuit boards (PCB). Moreover, most of the flexible substrates investigated until now are not compatible with the aforementioned fabrication technologies on wafers due to their lack of chemical inertness and handling issues. In this presented paper, we demonstrate a conceptually new approach to transfer structures, dies, and electronic components to a flexible substrate by lift-off. The structures to be transferred, including the related electrical contacts and packaging, are fabricated on a rigid carrier substrate, coated with the flexible substrate and finally lifted off from the carrier. The benefits of this approach are the combined advantages of using established semiconductor and microsystem fabrication technologies as well as packaging technologies, such as high precision and miniaturization, as well as a variety of available materials and processes together with those of flexible substrates, such as a geometry adaptivity, lightweight structures and low costs.

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Silicon RFCMOS SOI technology with above-IC MEMS integration for front end wireless applications

Cited by 11 publications

References 6 publications

Integrated tunable systems for scalable 4G radios

Integrated tunable systems for scalable 4G radios

A highly reliable single-crystal silicon RF-MEMS switch using Au sub-micron particles for wafer level LTCC cap packaging

Paradigm Changing Integration Technology for the Production of Flexible Electronics by Transferring Structures, Dies and Electrical Components from Rigid to Flexible Substrates

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