RF/microwave integrated passives for system on package module development

This thesis reports the first comprehensive design and analysis of integrated RF passives developed for next generation, low cost and high performance materials used in a multilayer packaging environment for System on Package (SOP) technology. Novel hollow ground plane (HGP) inductors are introduced and demonstrate superior performance to their on-chip counterparts and comparable performance to their expensive multilayer technology counterparts. The first reported inductor library including the use of a design of experiments and statistical analysis approach for multilayer passives implemented in Liquid Crystal Polymer (LCP) Technology is presented. This approach allows comprehensive quantification of the effects of the inductor factors, which leads to prediction and optimization of the important electrical characteristics of the RF structures. In addition, compact filter topologies for RF module development are demonstrated. These building blocks demonstrate feasibility of efficiently integrating quality passives for System on Package Technology, ultimately eliminating the need for discrete passives. Multilayer Organic and LCP process technologies are presented as strong candidates for future RF modules and the realization of System on Package.