| The limiting factors in implementing faster printed circuit boards and integrated circuit architectures for modern electronic systems are interconnects and packaging constraints rather than semiconductor device performance. The efficient interconnection of high density input and output signals is no longer possible by only utilizing planar interfaces. Therefore, routing by means of vertical interconnects such as vias through multiple layers is unavoidable. Especially, when vias penetrate through the conductor planes or are buried in between them, their induced electrical effects are not only limited to the generation of conducted noise (reflections) but also include the generation of radiated noise in the form of voltage fluctuations on the conductor planes. The pair of conductor planes form a parallel-plate waveguide (PPW), thus the induced noise is in fact a waveguide mode, and it is called PPW noise in this thesis.; With the ever-increasing clock frequencies of digital circuits and the emergence of low power integrated circuits, the bottle-neck imposed by the PPW noise becomes more and more significant. Therefore, two distinct tasks are undertaken in the present dissertation; the development of physics-based models to capture the PPW noise in various structures, and the introduction of a novel approach for the global suppression of this noise, as opposed to conventional localized methods. In the modeling endeavor, fast and accurate representative models based on radial transmission line theory are developed which can be integrated with circuit components. On the other hand, by utilizing these equivalent circuits, different methods of noise suppression have been studied while giving insight to the noise characteristics which lead to the development of a novel approach for noise suppression. In the proposed method, Electromagnetic Bandgap (EBG) structures are employed to provide an omnidirectional suppression of the PPW noise. Simulations and measurements carried on a number of test structures are presented herein to validate the accuracy of the developed models and prove the successful global suppression of the PPW noise by utilizing EBG surfaces. |
