Characterization and design of embedded passive circuits for applications up to millimeter-wave frequency

The goal of the research in this dissertation is to develop techniques for 1) system-on-package integration of passive circuits using ultra-thin advanced polymers called RXP (Rogers experimental polymer), 2) extraction of frequency-dependent material properties up to millimeter-wave frequency, 3) development and synthesis of high-rejection filter topologies, 4) design and characterization of high performance miniaturized embedded passive circuits for microwave and millimeter-wave applications, and 5) development of via and through-silicon via (TSV) enhanced filter design method for integration in high-loss substrate.;The RXP material is developed to reduce the layer-count for multi-layer configuration and adoption of advanced fabrication technologies, hence reducing the overall system size for enabling thinner and smaller wireless modules. Frequency-dependent material properties of RXP, ceramic, and other materials have been extracted up to millimeter-wave frequency using parallel-plate resonator method. An automated extraction algorithm has been proposed to handle a large number of frequency samples efficiently. The accuracy of the extraction result has been improved by including the surface roughness effect for conductor operating at high frequency.;Using extracted RXP material properties, 2.4/5 GHz WLAN bandpass filters have been designed and characterized. High-rejection bandpass filter topologies for narrow 2.4 GHz and wide 5 GHz have been proposed. The proposed topologies have been synthesized to provide design equations as well as graphical design methodologies using Z-parameters. A new capacitor design called 3D stitched capacitor has been proposed to achieve more symmetric layout by providing balanced shunt parasitics. The proposed topologies and design methodologies have been verified through the measurement of high-rejection RXP bandpass filters. Good correlation between the simulation and measurement was observed demonstrating an effective design methodology and embedding bandpass filters with good performance.;Dual-band bandpass filters for WLAN applications have been implemented and measured. Instead of connecting two bandpass filter circuits, a new single bandpass filter topology has been developed with a compact size as well as high isolation between passbands. High-rejection duplexer has been designed in RXP substrate for chip-last embedded IC technology, and a novel matching circuit has been applied for the miniaturization as well.;The 60 GHz V-band has special interest for wireless applications because of its high attenuation characteristics because of atmospheric oxygen. Millimeter-wave passive circuits such as bandpass filter, dual-band filter, and duplexer have been designed, and self-resonant frequency of passive components has been carefully avoided using the proposed method.;For low-cost system integration, silicon interposer with through-silicon-via (TSV) technology has been studied. The filter design method for high-loss substrate has been proposed. The coupling characteristic of TSV has been investigated for obtaining good insertion loss in lossy substrates such as silicon, and TSV characteristics has been used to design bandpass and highpass filters. To demonstration of concept, bandpass filters with good insertion loss have been realized on high-loss FR4 substrate.