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Wafer-level micropackaging in thin film technology for RF MEMS applications

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Abstract

In this work, a thin-film packaging was developed to be used for radio-frequency microelectromechanical system configurations. The fabricated packages are suspended membranes in the multilayer SixNy/aSi/SixNy on conductive coplanar waveguides (CPWs) of different length. Several geometric parameters of the membranes, which are the length, the curvature radius at the vertices of the rectangular base, the density and the diameter of holes on the capping surface, were also varied. The mechanical properties of the suspended membranes were investigated by mechanical simulations and surface profilometry measurements as a function of the geometric parameters. RF characterization was performed to evaluate the impact of the package on the CPW performance. Finally, network analysis was carried out, allowing to clarify the origin of the RF losses measured for the fabricated microdevices.

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Acknowledgements

This work has been partially supported by MIUR under Project 02876 “TASMA” of the National Operative Program (PON).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Microelectronics and Microsystems, IMM-CNR Lecce, Lecce, Italy

    A. Persano, P. Siciliano, F. Quaranta & A. Taurino

  2. Institute for Microelectronics and Microsystems, IMM-CNR Roma, Rome, Italy

    A. Lucibello, Romolo Marcelli, G. Capoccia & E. Proietti

  3. Fondazione Bruno Kessler, FBK, Center for Materials and Microsystems, CMM, Povo, Trento, Italy

    A. Bagolini & J. Iannacci

Authors
  1. A. Persano
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  2. P. Siciliano
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  3. F. Quaranta
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  4. A. Taurino
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  5. A. Lucibello
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  6. Romolo Marcelli
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  7. G. Capoccia
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  8. E. Proietti
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  9. A. Bagolini
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  10. J. Iannacci
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Romolo Marcelli.

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Persano, A., Siciliano, P., Quaranta, F. et al. Wafer-level micropackaging in thin film technology for RF MEMS applications. Microsyst Technol 24, 575–585 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00542-017-3583-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00542-017-3583-6

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