A high performance slow-wave elevated microstrip line with slot-type floating shields

A high performance slow-wave elevated microstrip line (SE-MSL) structure with periodical slot-type floating shields underneath the signal line is proposed in a 65-nm CMOS technology. The proposed SE-MSL demonstrates a better performance in terms of both higher effective dielectric permittivity and quality factor and a lower attenuation constant at millimeter-wave frequencies, when compared to conventional microstrip lines and coplanar waveguide structures. For a 50-Ω SE-MSL, the electromagnetic (EM) simulations show a relative effective permittivity of 29.5, an attenuation constant of 0.985 dB/mm and a quality factor of 31.85 at 60 GHz.