SIMMWICs on Micromachined Silicon on Insulator Substrates Beyond 100 GHz

Abstract

The realization of SIMMWICs (silicon millimeter-wave integrated circuits) for frequencies above 100 GHz is presented. Epitaxial layers grown with molecular beam epitaxy and low-loss microstrip lines allow the implementation of a variety of devices required for basic system-on-chip building blocks. The applied silicon technology using Al/AlNiSi contacts offers excellent integration possibilities. Schottky diodes are designed for Mott mode operation and feature cutoff-frequencies of more than 700 GHz. Substrate membranes with a thickness of 50 mum are created by applying a selective etching process using silicon on insulator (SOI) wafers. Different microstrip circuit designs demonstrate the integration potential. Finally, two singly balanced mixer designs with low LO-power drive demands and low conversion loss characteristics are exposed. We choose the 122 GHz ISM band as an example for the demonstration of the potential of this cost-effective integration approach.