77 GHz integrated patch antennae in 0.18 µm CMOS technology

Abstract

This paper presents two patch antennae at a nominal resonance frequency of 77 GHz, namely a thin-substrate antenna and a thick-substrate antenna, using a standard 0.18 µm CMOS technology. Both the antennae are implemented on metal-6. The thin-substrate antenna uses metal-5 as the ground plane, and the thick-substrate antenna uses metal-1 as the ground plane. The thin-substrate antenna was fabricated on a 0.18 µm CMOS process and characterized. The thick-substrate antenna was only simulated. Measurements of the thin-substrate antenna show a peak S11 of −18.22 dB at 99.8 GHz. In simulation, the thin-substrate antenna has a peak gain and radiation efficiency of −25 dB and 1% respectively at 77 GHz. The thick-substrate antenna has a simulated peak gain and radiation efficiency of 5.18 dB and 58.31% respectively at 77 GHz.