Abstract
An experimental investigation on the near-field electromagnetic loss of thin copper layers has been presented using microfabricated microwave transceivers for applications to multi-chip microsystems. Copper layers in the thickness range of 0.2$\mu$m∼200$\mu$m have been electroplated on the Pyrex glass substrates. Microwave transceivers have been fabricated using the 3.5mm$\times$3.5mm nickel microloop antennas, electroformed on the silicon substrates. Electromagnetic radiation loss of the copper layers placed between the microloop transceivers has been measured as 10dB∼40dB for the wave frequency range of 100MHz∼1GHz. The 0.2$\mu$m-thick copper layer provides a shield loss of 20dB at the frequencies higher than 300MHz, whereas showing a predominant decreases of shield loss to 10dB at lower frequencies. No substantial increase of the shield effectiveness has been found for the copper shield layers thicker that 2 $\mu$m.
