D‐band waveguide‐to‐microstrip transition implemented in eWLB packaging technology

Abstract

This Letter presents a non-galvanic D-band (110-170 GHz) interconnect realised in embedded wafer level ball grid array (eWLB) packaging technology. The interconnect consists of a patch-radiator-based waveguide transition implemented using one of the technology's redistribution layers. The patch radiates to a WR-6.5 standard waveguide perpendicular to its plane. An electromagnetic band-gap structure realised by metal patches is used to suppress undesired modes and improve the performance of the transition. The proposed solution is experimentally verified, and measurement results show that the transition exhibits an average insertion loss of 2 dB across the frequency range 122-146 GHz which, to the best of the authors' knowledge, is the lowest reported loss for a D-band packaging solution in eWLB technology and hence addresses one of the main integration challenges facing millimetre-wave systems.