Integrated Passive Device Research Articles

A Flip-Chip-Assembled W-Band Receiver in 90-nm CMOS and IPD Technologies

A flip-chip-assembled W-band receiver composed of a 90-nm CMOS chip and an integrated-passive-device (IPD) carrier is presented in this paper. The chip which integrates a low-noise amplifier, a single-sideband mixer, a frequency doubler (FD), and a wide-band variable-gain amplifier, is flip-chip packaged to the IPD carrier through a low-loss interconnect. The simulated loss of the interconnect without any compensation network is only 0.95 dB at 94 GHz. The FD can provide differential output without any additional lossy balun required, effectively increasing the FD output power, and hence relaxing the local oscillator generation circuit design. The experimental results show that the proposed packaged receiver can provide a variable gain from 11.3 to 48.2 dB, while having an input 1-dB compression point from −43.7 to −29 dBm as the RF frequency is 90 GHz. The intermediate bandwidth and minimum noise figure can be 1.0 GHz and 7.8 dB, respectively. The proposed receiver only consumes 73.9 mW from a 1.2-V supply. As compared with prior works, the proposed receiver exhibits higher gain, lower noise, and lower power dissipation even though a less-advanced 90-nm CMOS technology is adopted. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first W-band CMOS receiver assembled on an IPD carrier reported thus far.

A Highly Selective and Compact Bandpass Filter with a Circular Spiral Inductor and an Embedded Capacitor Structure Using an Integrated Passive Device Technology on a GaAs Substrate

As one of the most commonly used devices in microwave systems, bandpass filters (BPFs) directly affect the performance of these systems. Among the processes for manufacturing filters, integrated passive device (IPD) technology provides high practicality and accuracy. Thus, to comply with latest development trends, a resonator-based bandpass filter with a high selectivity and a compact size, fabricated on a gallium arsenide (GaAs) substrate is developed. An embedded capacitor is connected between the ends of two divisions in a circular spiral inductor, which is intertwined to reduce its size to 0.024 λg × 0.013 λg with minimal loss, and along with the capacitor, it generates a center frequency of 1.35 GHz. The strong coupling between the two ports of the filter results in high selectivity, to reduce noise interference. The insertion loss and return loss are 0.26 dB and 25.6 dB, respectively, thus facilitating accurate signal propagation. The filter was tested to verify its high performance in several aspects, and measurement results showed good agreement with the simulation results.

Photosensitive Glass-Ceramics for Heterogeneous Integration

The push for heterogeneous integration requires very unique material properties with respect to processing, material constants, and integration capabilities with other materials (such as copper, II...

Design Analysis of Integrated Passive Device-Based Balun Devices With High Selectivity for Mobile Application

This paper presents highly selective, low-loss, and miniaturized balun devices fabricated using the integrated passive device (IPD) technique for the GSM band (900/1800 MHz) and the WiFi band (2400 MHz) in mobile applications. Balun devices were fabricated on a gallium arsenide (GaAs) substrate using the IPD fabrication process to reduce the overall size (0.05λ <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">g</sub> × 0.036λ <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">g</sub> at 900 MHz). Each device is the combination of lattice lumped structure with a low-pass filter and a high-pass filter configuration. This structural formation of lumped elements helps to reduce the phase mismatch error in the balun devices. For all the balun devices, the measured results indicated a minimum amplitude imbalance (<;0.47 dB) and low phase imbalance (180 ± 2.6°). Mathematically calculated, calculated after considering parasitic effects, simulated and measured results exhibited a good correlation. The return loss is below 18 dB and insertion loss is below 0.25 dB for the entire fabricated devices. A balun device with a center frequency of 900 MHz has given the best results amongst all fabricated devices.

QFN-Packaged Bandpass Filter With Intertwined Circular Spiral Inductor and Integrated Center-Located Capacitors Using Integrated Passive Device Technology

This paper describes the implementation of a miniaturized quad flat no-lead (QFN)-packaged bandpass filter (BPF) with a combination of an intertwined circular spiral inductor and two types of integrated center-located capacitors using gallium-arsenide-based integrated passive device (IPD) fabrication technology. Air-bridge structures were introduced into the outer circular spiral inductor to save space and to provide the filter with a compact chip area of 1192.5 × 1012.7 μm 2 . An equivalent circuit was modeled, the current density and variable dimensional parameters were simulated, and the fabrication process was introduced to achieve a better understanding of the IPD BPF. The proposed device was packaged using the QFN-packaging technology and was measured to possess a single passband with a central frequency of 1.91 GHz (return loss: 28.8 dB) and a fractional bandwidth of 72.69% (insertion loss: 0.62 dB). One transmission zero was obtained on the right side of the passband at 4.78 GHz with an amplitude of 35.95 dB. The fabricated BPF can be used in various L-band applications, such as mobile service, satellite navigation, telecommunications, and aircraft surveillance, due to its miniaturized chip size and high-performance characteristics.

GaAs-Based IPD-Fabricated Center-Frequency-Controllable Bandpass Filter With Asymmetrical Differential Inductor and Air-Bridge Enhanced Capacitor

In this paper, a design of bandpass filter (BPF) comprised of an asymmetrical differential inductor and an air-bridge enhanced capacitor is developed using the GaAs-based integrated passive device (IPD) fabrication techniques. The ${Q}$ -factor can be improved by the asymmetrical differential inductor and differential structure, providing relative less loss for the BPF design. In addition, the capacitor is specially built with different turns inside the blank area of the proposed inductor, and several air bridges are applied to enhance its capacitance with its value varying from 0.295 to 0.318 pF without extending any extra space. Hence, this makes it more feasible to control the center frequency of the proposed BPF. Moreover, the area as compact as $800\,\,\mu \text{m}\,\,\times 988\,\,\mu \text{m}$ ( $0.015\lambda _{0} \times 0.018\lambda _{0}$ ) has been successfully achieved, including the contact pads by the BPF chip fabrication. After the BPF chip is assembled on a sub-board printed circuit board (PCB) and attached on a die sink of the iron cube, the measurement has been effectively conducted. The measurement results of the proposed BPF give the insertion loss of 0.38 dB and the return loss of 17.35 dB at the center frequency of 1.56 GHz. Furthermore, the 3-dB fractional bandwidth (FBW) is calculated as 51.3% and the isolation is higher than 10 dB from 2.62 to 5.45 GHz. By changing the structure in terms of different numbers of turns of the capacitor and with or without the air bridge, variation can be achieved from 1.64 to 2.28 GHz for the center frequency and from 4.31 to 5.81 GHz for the frequency of transmission zero (TZ). Such results validate that our proposed BPF design is capable of offering both sound performance and controllable properties.

A Miniature 300-MHz Resonant DC–DC Converter With GaN and CMOS Integrated in IPD Technology

A 300-MHz class-E dc–dc converter using the resonant gate driving technique is proposed. The gate driver utilizes the harmonic shaping network and RC feedback to enhance the output swing voltage, and the class-E power converter can minimize the voltage–current overlap to improve efficiency. With the $0.\text{25-}{\mu} {\text{m}}$ GaN high-electron-mobility transistor and $\text{0.18-}{\mu} {\text{m}}$ CMOS for the switching power device and the gate driver, respectively, a complete dc–dc converter operating at 300 MHz is demonstrated including all the passive components microfabricated by integrated passive device (IPD) technology on the high-resistivity silicon substrate. The overall chip area is smaller than 1 cm × 1 cm and the volume is only 0.115 cm3. The measured results show a maximum output power of 4.16 W with 47.3% efficiency. An excellent power density of 36.2 W/cm3 can be achieved. The flip-chip assembled converter on the IPD substrate demonstrates the potential of heterogeneous integration for high-frequency power conversion applications.

A High-Frequency-Compatible Miniaturized Bandpass Filter with Air-Bridge Structures Using GaAs-Based Integrated Passive Device Technology.

This paper reports on the use of gallium arsenide-based integrated passive device technology for the implementation of a miniaturized bandpass filter that incorporates an intertwined circle-shaped spiral inductor and an integrated center-located capacitor. Air-bridge structures were introduced to the outer inductor and inner capacitor for the purpose of space-saving, thereby yielding a filter with an overall chip area of 1178 μm × 970 μm. Thus, not only is the chip area minimized, but the magnitude of return loss is also improved as a result of selective variation of bridge capacitance. The proposed device possesses a single passband with a central frequency of 1.71 GHz (return loss: 32.1 dB), and a wide fractional bandwidth (FBW) of 66.63% (insertion loss: 0.50 dB). One transmission zero with an amplitude of 43.42 dB was obtained on the right side of the passband at 4.48 GHz. Owing to its miniaturized chip size, wide FBW, good out-band suppression, and ability to yield high-quality signals, the fabricated bandpass filter can be implemented in various L-band applications such as mobile services, satellite navigation, telecommunications, and aircraft surveillance.

Design and Realization of a Compact High-Frequency Band-Pass Filter with Low Insertion Loss Based on a Combination of a Circular-Shaped Spiral Inductor, Spiral Capacitor and Interdigital Capacitor

In this study, the proposed bandpass filter (BPF) connects an interdigital and a spiral capacitor in series between the two symmetrical halves of a circular intertwined spiral inductor. For the mass production of devices and to achieve a higher accuracy and a better performance compared with other passive technologies, we used integrated passive device (IPD) technology. IPD has been widely used to realize compact BPFs and achieve the abovementioned. The center frequency of the proposed BPF is 1.96 GHz, and the return loss, insertion loss and transmission zero are 26.77 dB, 0.27 dB and 38.12 dB, respectively. The overall dimensions of BPFs manufactured using IPD technology are 984 × 800 μ m 2 , which is advantageous for miniaturization and integration.

Comparison of 5-GHz Quadrature Couplers Using GaAs and Silicon-Based IPD Technologies

The 5-GHz quadrature couplers implemented in GaAs and silicon-based integrated passive device (IPD) technologies are presented. Although GaAs technology is superior to silicon-based technology in terms of substrate resistivity and back-side vias, the quadrature coupler using a silicon IPD process achieved better insertion loss due to thick metal traces and comparable substrate resistivity. While the coupler using the GaAs process employed 4- $\mu \text{m}$ -thick metal traces, the coupler using silicon IPD technology employed 10.8- $\mu \text{m}$ -thick traces realized with via connections between a top metal of 5.3- $\mu \text{m}$ thickness and a bottom metal of 5.5- $\mu \text{m}$ thickness. The couplers using the silicon and GaAs IPD process technologies showed 0.15 and 0.27 dB of insertion loss, respectively. Also, the silicon IPD design uses a slightly different topology which splits a coupled inductor into two coupled inductors with shunt capacitors to achieve a broader distributed bandwidth.

Radio Frequency Detection and Characterization of Water-Ethanol Solution through Spiral-Coupled Passive Micro-Resonator Sensor.

We present a microfabricated spiral-coupled passive resonator sensor realized through integrated passive device (IPD) technology for the sensitive detection and characterization of water-ethanol solutions. In order to validate the performance of the proposed device, we explicitly measured and analyzed the radio frequency (RF) characteristics of various water-ethanol solution compositions. The measured results showed a drift in the resonance frequency from 1.16 GHz for deionized (DI) water to 1.68 GHz for the solution containing 50% ethanol, whereas the rejection level given by the reflection coefficient decreased from −29.74 dB to −14.81 dB. The obtained limit of detection was 3.82% volume composition of ethanol in solution. The derived loaded capacitance was 21.76 pF for DI water, which gradually decreased to 8.70 pF for the 50% ethanol solution, and the corresponding relative permittivity of the solution decreased from 80.14 to 47.79. The dissipation factor increased with the concentration of ethanol in the solution. We demonstrated the reproducibility of the proposed sensor through iterative measures of the samples and the study of surface morphology. Successive measurement of different samples had no overlapping and had very minimum bias between RF characteristics for each measured sample. The surface profile for bare sensors was retained after the sample test, resulting a root mean square (RMS) value of 11.416 nm as compared to 10.902 nm for the bare test. The proposed sensor was shown to be a viable alternative to existing sensors for highly sensitive water-ethanol concentration detection.

Bridged-T Coil for Miniature Dual-Band Branch-Line Coupler and Power Divider Designs

In this paper, a new design method for bridged-T coil (BTC) is proposed such that it can be made equivalent to two different transmission line sections at two different frequencies. In this way, on-chip dual-band branch-line coupler and dual-band power divider designs with very compact circuit sizes can be made possible through the use of BTCs. Specifically, the proposed 2.45/5.8-GHz dual-band branch-line coupler realized using the integrated passive device (IPD) process features a compact circuit size of only $2.8~\text {mm} \times 1.4$ mm while the proposed 2.4/5.5-GHz dual-band power divider in IPD exhibits a very small circuit size of only $1.8~\text {mm} \times 1.7$ mm. To the best of our knowledge, the proposed dual-band branch-line coupler is the smallest one ever reported while the circuit size of the proposed dual-band power divider is comparable to the smallest in the literature.

Design of miniaturised CMOS bandpass filters for ultra-wideband applications

In this paper, a set of ultra-compact CMOS bandpass filters are proposed for ultra-wideband (UWB) applications. For this aim, a comparative study was first performed enabling to deduce that Chebyshev-inverse and Hourglass filtering functions can be the most suitable for UWB operation. The impact of the latter functions on the easiness of implementation in integrated passive device (IPD) technologies and filtering performance was investigated, where the designed filters were implemented in 0.18-µm CMOS technology. Finally, the issue of in-band interference has been addressed by rejecting the wireless local area network (WLAN) signals. The performance of the proposed UWB filters were validated through post layout simulation, and good fulfilling with UWB specifications was noted while depicting a compact size, smaller than 0.6 mm2, which is very miniaturised compared with relevant works mentioned in the state of the art.

2.4-GHz Absorptive MMIC Switch for Switched Beamformer Application

In this paper, a GaAs absorptive single-pole double-throw (SPDT) RF switch and its application to a 2.4-GHz switched beamformer module are presented. The proposed absorptive SPDT RF switch features low-power consumption and low insertion loss with good output matching both in the on and off states. Specifically, the measured insertion loss in the on state is less than 1 dB, and the measured input and output return losses are both better than 11.2 dB from 1.9 to 2.6 GHz. The measured output return loss in the off state is better than 15 dB, and the measured isolation is better than 24.7 dB in the same frequency range. Two proposed absorptive SPDT switches are then employed to form an absorptive single-pole four-throw RF switch, and it is integrated with a miniaturized $4 \times 4$ Butler matrix using the integrated passive device (IPD) technology to achieve a compact 2.4-GHz switched beamformer module with a very low profile. Specifically, the module size is 4.9 mm $\times5$ mm with a thickness of only 0.4 mm. The IPD beamformer module is then used to realize a low-profile 2-D scanning antenna array, and 16 different beams in azimuth and elevation dimensions are successfully generated.

3D IPD on Thru Glass Via Substrate using panel Manufacturing Technology

Abstract As electronic products become smaller and thinner with increasing number of functions, the demand for high density and high integration becomes stronger. Glass has many properties that make it an ideal substrate for high integration substrate such as; ultra high resistivity, adjustable thermal expansion (CTE) high modulus, low dielectric constant, low dielectric loss and manufacturability with large panel sizes. Multi-bands with carrier aggregation, Wi-Fi/GPS coexistence, and LTE-U make RF front end more and more complicated. 3D IPD (integrated passive devices) on Glass substrate technology could be advantage solution include reducing power consumption and small form factor. This paper presents a demonstration of 3D RF front end filters using 3D solenoid inductors with through glass vias (TGV) and Cu-SiN-Cu MIM structure on Gen1 glass substrate (300mm × 400mm) panel format using color filter manufacturing line for flat panel display. For inductors, drastic performance (size and low resistance therefore high-quality factor) improvement have been demonstrated by technology evolutions from 3D solenoid using TGV with conformal Cu plating method, achieving low resistance of 3.1mohm per 70um diameter TGV on a 400um thick glass panel. This low-resistance TGV with 2.7mOhm/sq TGV connections on both sides of the glass substrate, record high inductor quality factor of 39 was obtained at 2.5GHz using five and half turn inductor of 7.9nH inductance, For capacitors, we have successfully integrated a Cu MIM (metal-insulator-metal) structure by using 15um thick Cu plates and dielectric, resulting in high capacitance density of 0.26nF/mm2 for RF application. By integrating TGV inductor-first and MIM capacitor-next, high-performance and high-density LC components are synthesized to perform as RF front end filters such as low-pass filters, diplexers, triplexers, and multiplexers. The 3D inductors, Cu MIM, LC resonators and filters were successfully integrated using glass panel manufacturing infrastructure for the first time. Process characterization and process control monitors were evaluated at the panel level to address high-volume and high-yield manufacturability of RF filters with the unprecedented filter performance in terms of insertion loss and out of band rejections in smaller form factor than any other technologies have achieved so far. Furthermore, the TGV filters were mounted on electrical evaluation boards as well as JEDEC standard testing boards to check any device-level, chip-level, and board-level reliabilities associated with glass or TGV materials as well as their interaction with Cu, SiN, polymer inter layer dielectric materials, and solder joints, showing no performance degradations during thermal cycling, drop shock, bending, or high-power testing situations.

A Compact 0.9-/2.6-GHz Dual-Band RF Energy Harvester Using SiP Technique

A compact dual-band radio frequency (RF) energy harvester (EH) composed of matching networks, bandpass and band-stop filters (BPF/BSF), and rectifiers, using a system-in-package technique is proposed in this letter. The matching networks and BPF/BSF are realized on a low-loss integrated-passive-device (IPD) carrier while the rectifiers are implemented in a 0.18- $\mu \text{m}$ CMOS technology. The CMOS chip is flipped and bonded onto the IPD carrier through low-loss gold bumps. The proposed BPF/BSF can provide zeros and poles to pass and stop signals, respectively, allowing dual-band operation. Moreover, high-Q IPD passive components are employed to design the matching networks and the filters. This not only gives a compact solution but higher impedance transformation ratio between the source resistance and the rectifier input impedance also becomes feasible, which provides higher voltage gain to greatly enhance the RF-to-dc conversion efficiency. The proposed RF EH can give measured output voltage of 1.35 and 1 V with RF-to-dc conversion efficiency of 12.6% and 7% at 0.93 and 2.63 GHz, respectively, as the input power is −15.4 dBm and the load resistance is 500 $\text{k}\Omega $ . The EH only occupies an area of 11.6 mm2.

V‐band dual‐polarised dielectric resonator antenna with bondwire feeding structures

In this Letter, a V-band chip-level dual-polarised dielectric resonator antenna implemented by using bondwires and silicon-based integrated passive device technology is proposed. The square-shaped resonator is fed by two bondwire coupling structures which excite two degenerate modes orthogonal to each other. The resonance of bondwire itself is also found to enhance the antenna bandwidth to cover the 60 GHz band. Reasonable agreement between the simulation and the measurement is obtained. The measured antenna bandwidth is from 52.8 to 65 GHz. The measured isolation is better than 20 dB at frequencies of interest. The measured antenna gain is 4.5 dBi at 60 GHz. The proposed design can provide further applications for circularly polarised systems.

High-performance and high-reliability SOT-6 packaged diplexer based on advanced IPD fabrication techniques

A diplexer offering the advantages of compact size, high performance, and high reliability is proposed on the basis of advanced integrated passive device (IPD) fabrication techniques. The proposed diplexer is developed by combining a third-order low-pass filter (LPF) and a third-order high-pass filter (HPF), which are designed on the basis of the elliptic function prototype low-pass filter. Primary components, such as inductors and capacitors, are designed and fabricated with high Q-factor and appropriate values, and they are subsequently used to construct a compact diplexer having a chip area of 900μm×1100μm (0.009 λ0×0.011 λ0, where λ0 is the guided wavelength). In addition, a small-outline transistor (SOT-6) packaging method is adopted, and reliability tests (including temperature, humidity, vibration, and pressure) are conducted to guarantee long-term stability and commercial success. The packaged measurement results indicate excellent RF performance with insertion losses of 1.39dB and 0.75dB at operation bands of 0.9GHz and 1.8GHz, respectively. The return loss is lower than 10dB from 0.5GHz to 4.0GHz, while the isolation is higher than 15dB from 0.5GHz to 3.0GHz. Thus, it can be concluded that the proposed SOT-6 packaged diplexer is a promising candidate for GSM/CDMA applications. Synthetic solution of diplexer design, RF performance optimization, fabrication process, packaging, RF response measurement, and reliability test is particularly explained and analyzed in this work.

Reconfigurable Bandstop and Bandpass Filters With Wideband Balun Using IPD Technology for Frequency Agile Applications

A tunable bandstop filter (BSF) with a wideband balun using integrated passive devices (IPDs) technology for multichip module is proposed. The compact tunable BSF uses barium strontium titanate (BST) varactors demonstrating a tuning range of 55% from 1.3 to 2.3 GHz with a 20-dB rejection level. The performance of the filter is optimized by applying asynchronous biases to the BST varactors, leading to bandwidth and rejection level improvement. High-power test results show that the filter exhibits a third-order input intercept point of more than 40 dBm. An IPD wideband balun (0.5–2.5 GHz with ±1 dB amplitude imbalance and 180° ± 20°) using a wideband phase inverter is also presented. The design considerations of the wideband phase inverter (1.5–8 GHz) are addressed in this paper. Design and measured results are also presented for a fixed IPD bandpass filter, and an IPD bandpass filter with a tunable transmission zero to demonstrate the reconfigurability in frequency agile applications.

Compact and low‐profile GaN hybrid‐IC based on TSV Si‐interposer technology

ABSTRACTThis article presents new compact, low‐profile GaN hybrid‐IC technologies. Three different kinds of IC integration methods based on a silicon substrate are studied to make GaN hybrid‐ICs. First, two hybrid‐IC LNAs are designed and fabricated to estimate their RF performances with the combination of a discrete transistor and silicon integrated passive devices (IPDs) in which an input and output matching networks are integrated as thin‐film devices. A wire‐bonding method is used to make interconnections between the two discrete devices. Second, the GaN HEMT transistor is fully embedded in the silicon interposer using a cavity to make a low‐profile package. All kinds of passive components for matching networks are also integrated on the Si‐interposer and their interconnections are made using lithography technology. Third, the TSV technology is added to the embedded IC package to make an easily assembled hybrid‐IC. In this hybrid IC, the GaN transistor is embedded in the Si‐interposer and I/Os are located under the package bottom as in a Quad Flat No‐leads (QFN) package structure. The size of the realized hybrid GaN power LNA is only 1.7 × 1.5 × 0.15 mm3 and it is almost the same as the commercial MMIC size. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 59:1087–1092, 2017