RF passive components in MCM-D

Thin film multilayer multi chip module technology (MCM-D) may be used to realize high quality RF (radio-frequency) passive components (capacitors and inductors) and circuits patterns (transmission lines). MCM-D structure is built with metallic and dielectric layers deposited on alumina substrate by employing adapted techniques used for semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) manufacturing. These RF passive components and circuits in MCM-D were manufactured and simulated electromagnetically according to their geometry and material electrical characteristics using method of moments (MoM). Focused Ion Beam (FIB) was used for MCM-D structure analysis and layer thickness measurements. Up to 10 GHz on-wafer measurements were carried out on manufactured structures and shown good agreement with simulation results indicating they are applicable on RF devices and modules for many wireless applications.