• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.12 no.3 s.36
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• pp.197-205
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• 2005

Development of the packaging is one of the critical issues for commercialization of the RF-MEMS devices. RF MEMS package should be designed to have small size, hermetic protection, good RF performance and high reliability. In addition, packaging should be conducted at sufficiently low temperature. In this paper, a low temperature hermetic wafer level packaging scheme for the RF-MEMS devices is presented. For hermetic sealing, Au-Sn eutectic bonding technology at the temperature below $300{\times}C$ is used. Au-Sn multilayer metallization with a square loop of $70{\mu}m$ in width is performed. The electrical feed-through is achieved by the vertical through-hole via filled with electroplated Cu. The size of the MEMS Package is $1mm\times1mm\times700{\mu}m$. By applying $O_2$ plasma ashing and fabrication process optimization, we can achieve the void-free structure within the bonding interface as well as via hole. The shear strength and hermeticity of the package satisfy the requirements of MIL-STD-883F. Any organic gases or contamination are not observed inside the package. The total insertion loss for the packaging is 0.075 dB at 2 GHz. Furthermore, the robustness of the package is demonstrated by observing no performance degradation and physical damage of the package after several reliability tests.

• Proceedings of the International Microelectronics And Packaging Society Conference
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• 2001.11a
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• pp.55-60
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• 2001

RF MEMS is an exciting emerging technology that has great potential to develop TOC (Transceiver-on-Chip). Applications of the RF MEMS to wireless communications systems are presented. The ability of the RF MEMS technology to enhance the performance and to reduce the size of passive components, in particular, switches, inductors, and tunable capacitors, is addressed. A number of potential wireless system opportunities for the TOC are awaiting the maturation of the RF MEMS technology.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.16 no.12S
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• pp.1237-1241
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• 2003

In this paper, we report a novel RF-MEMS packaging technology with lightweight, small size, and short electric path length. To achieve this goal, we used the ultra thin silicon substrate as a packaging substrate. The via holes lot vortical feed-through were fabricated on the thin silicon wafer by wet chemical processing. Then, via holes were filled and micro-bumps were fabricated by electroplating. The packaged RF device has a reflection loss under 22 〔㏈〕 and a insertion loss of -0.04∼-0.08 〔㏈〕. These measurements show that we could package the RF device without loss and interference by using the vertical feed-through. Specially, with the ultra thin silicon wafer we can realize of a device package that has low-cost, lightweight and small size. Also, we can extend a 3-D packaging structure by stacking assembled thin packages.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2009.07a
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• pp.1511_1512
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• 2009

This paper presents a polarization switching antenna integrated with silicon RF MEMS SPDT switches in the form of a package. A low-loss quartz substrate made of SoQ (silicon-on-quartz) bonding is used as a dielectric material of the patch antenna, as well as a packaging lid substrate of RF MEMS switches. The packaging/antenna substrate is bonded with the bottom substrate including feeding lines and RF MEMS switches by BCB adhesive bonding, and RF energy is transmitted from signal lines to antenna by slot coupling. Through this approach, fabrication complexity and degradation of RF performances of the antenna due to the parasitic effects, which are all caused from the packaging methods, can be reduced. This structure is expected to be used as a platform for reconfigurable antennas with RF MEMS tunable components. A linear polarization switching antenna operating at 19 GHz is manufactured based on the proposed method, and the fabrication process is carefully described. The s-parameters of the fabricated antenna at each state are measured to evaluate the antenna performance.

• Proceedings of the International Microelectronics And Packaging Society Conference
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• 2001.11a
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• pp.124-128
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• 2001

We apply for the first time a low cost and loss wafer level packaging technology for RF-MEMS device. The proposed structure was simulated by finite element method (FEM) tool (HFSS of Ansoft). S-parameter measured of the package shows the return loss (S11) of 20dB and the insertion loss (S21) of 0.05dB.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.15 no.10
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• pp.889-895
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• 2002

Wafer level packaging is gain mote momentum as a low cost, high performance solution for RF-MEMS devices. In this work, the flip-chip method was used for the wafer level packaging of RF-MEMS devices on the quartz substrate with low losses. For analyzing the EM (electromagnetic) characteristic of proposed packaging structure, we got the 3D structure simulation using FEM (finite element method). The electric field distribution of CPW and hole feed-through at 3 GHz were concentrated on the hole and the CPW. The reflection loss of the package was totally below 23 dB and the insertion loss that presents the signal transmission characteristic is above 0.06 dB. The 4-inch Pyrex glass was used as a package substrate and it was punched with air-blast with 250${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$ diameter holes. We made the vortical feed-throughs to reduce the electric path length and parasitic parameters. The vias were filled with plating gold. The package substrate was bonded with the silicon substrate with the B-stage epoxy. The loss of the overall package structure was tested with a network analyzer and was within 0.05 dB. This structure can be used for wafer level packaging of not only the RF-MEMS devices but also the MEMS devices.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2002.07c
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• pp.1972-1975
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• 2002

In this paper, we have proposed low temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) based packaging for RF MEMS devices. The packaging structure is designed and evaluated with 3D full field simulation. 50 ${\Omega}$ matched coplanar waveguide(CPW) transmission line is employed as the test vehicle to evaluate the performances of the proposed package structure. The line is encapsulated with the LTCC packaging lid and connected to the via feed line. To reduce the insertion loss due to the packaging lid, the cavity with via post is formed in the packaging lid. The performances of the package structure is simulated with the different cavity depth and via-to-via length. Simulation results show that the proposed package structure has reflection loss better than 20 dB and insertion loss lower than 0.1 dB from DC to 30 GHz with the cavity depth and via-to-via length of 300 ${\mu}m$ and 350 ${\mu}m$, respectively. To realize the designed package structure, the cavity patterning is tested using the sandblast of LTCC.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.58-63
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• 2011

A low loss radio frequency(RF) micro electro mechanical systems(MEMS) switch driven by a low actuation voltage was designed for the development of a new RF MEMS switch. The RF MEMS switch should be encapsulated. The glass cap and fabricated RF MEMS switch were assembled by the Au/Sn eutectic bonding principle for wafer-level packaging. The through-vias on the glass substrate was made by the glass dry etching and Au electroplating process. The packaged RF MEMS switch had an actuation voltage of 12.5 V, an insertion loss below 0.25 dB, a return loss above 16.6 dB, and an isolation value above 41.4 dB at 6 GHz.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.58-64
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• 2006

In this study, we describe a low-temperature wafer-level thermocompression bonding using electroplated gold seal line and bonding pads by electroplating method for RF-MEMS devices. Silicon wafers, electroplated with gold (Au), were completely bonded at $320^{\circ}C$ for 30 min at a pressure of 2.5 MPa. The through-hole interconnection between the packaged devices and external terminal did not need metal filling process and was made by gold films deposited on the sidewall of the throughhole. This process was low-cost and short in duration. Helium leak rate, which is measured to evaluate the reliability of bonded wafers, was $2.7{\pm}0.614{\times}10^{-10}Pam^{3}/s$. The insertion loss of the CPW packaged was $-0.069{\sim}-0.085\;dB$. The difference of the insertion loss between the unpackaged and packaged CPW was less than -0.03. These values show very good RF characteristics of the packaging. Therefore, gold thermocompression bonding can be applied to high quality hermetic wafer level packaging of RF-MEMS devices.

• JSTS:Journal of Semiconductor Technology and Science
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.15-21
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• 2013

In this paper, a MEMS tunable capacitor was successfully designed and fabricated using an aluminum nitride film and a gold suspended membrane with two air gap structure for commercial RF applications. Unlike conventional two-parallel-plate tunable capacitors, the proposed tunable capacitor consists of one air suspended top electrode and two fixed bottom electrodes. One fixed and the top movable electrodes form a variable capacitor, while the other one provides necessary electrostatic actuation. The fabricated tunable capacitor exhibited a capacitance tuning range of 375% at 2 GHz, exceeding the theoretical limit of conventional two-parallel-plate tunable capacitors. In case of the contact state, the maximal quality factor was approximately 25 at 1.5 GHz. The developed fabrication process is also compatible with the existing standard IC (integrated circuit) technology, which makes it suitable for on chip intelligent transceivers and radios.