Thermoelectric power sensor for microwave applications by commercial CMOS fabrication

This work describes an implementation of a thermoelectric microwave power sensor fabricated through commercial CMOS process with additional maskless etching. The sensor combines micromachined coplanar waveguide and contact pads, a microwave termination which dissipates heat proportionally to input microwave power, and many aluminum-polysilicon thermocouples. The device was designed and fabricated in standard CMOS technology, including the appropriate superimposed dielectric openings for post-fabrication micromachining. By removing the bulk silicon located beneath the device through micromachining, thermal and electromagnetic losses are minimized. The sensor measures signal true RMS power in the frequency range up to 20 GHz with input power in the -30 dBm to +10 dBm range. Over this 40 dB dynamic range, output voltage versus input power is linear within less than /spl plusmn/0.16%. Automatic network analyzer data show an acceptable input return loss of less than -30 dB over the entire frequency range.