Performance Evaluation and Equivalent Model of Silicon Interconnects for Fully-Encapsulated RF MEMS Devices

This paper aims to demonstrate the utility of silicon interconnects for radio-frequency (RF) microelectromechanical system (MEMS) devices that are packaged using a wafer-scale encapsulation process. Design and fabrication steps for the packaged interconnects are described. Measurement results show that encapsulated devices can be operated at frequencies up to 6 GHz with less than 1 dB insertion loss from the through-package silicon interconnects. This paper also describes a simple and accurate lumped-element model for simulating the performance of packaged silicon interconnects. The model is verified with S-parameter measurements from 50 MHz to 6 GHz. The modeling method and extracted values are intended to aid in the design and simulation of RF MEMS devices packaged using this technology.