(INVITED) High-performance RF passives using post-CMOS MEMS techniques for RF SoC

Abstract

Real-world realization of RF SoC has been hindered by the lack of high-performance, compact and tunable RF passive devices that are truly CMOS-compatible. This paper presents advances in low-temperature metal MEMS techniques developed to design and fabricate various high-performance RF passives for post-CMOS integration with RF SoC. Constructed with electroplated metal, the RF MEMS passives are suspended above the low-resistivity silicon substrate to depress both ohmic and substrate losses. The MEMS RF passives presented in this paper include concave-suspended high-Q solenoid inductors and transformers, wide-range tunable capacitors and resonant LC-tanks, etc. Key issues such as electrical, mechanical and reliability performance was discussed. Potential applications in RF mobile devices is outlined.