Characterization of Co-Planar Silicon Transmission Lines With and Without Slow-Wave Effect

Abstract

Co-planar lines on silicon substrates with and without slow-wave effect are characterized using time-domain reflectometry (TDR) and vector network analyzer (VNA) measurements, and simulated using a proposed nonphysical resistance-inductance-conductance-capacitance (RLGC) model. The silicon co-planar lines are characterized based on comparison to package transmission lines. Co-planar silicon lines without slow-wave mode are modeled in the same way as package transmission lines, but co-planar lines with slow-wave mode are modeled in a different way from package transmission lines. Hence, a nonphysical RLGC model including slow-wave mode is proposed along with the extraction method from VNA measurements. Simulation results correlate well with time- and frequency-domain measurements for the co-planar silicon lines.