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Micromachined ridge gap waveguides for sub millimeter and millimeter wave applications

For the operation frequencies between 210-340 GHz


Thesis for the Degree of Erasmus Mundus Master of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology

SOFIA RAHIMINEJAD
Promotors: Professor Peter Enoksson Chalmers University of Technology Professor Dominique Schreurs Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Department of Microtechnology and Nanoscience CHALMERS UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY Gteborg, Sweden, 2011

Thesis for the Degree of Erasmus Mundus Master of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology

Micromachined ridge gap waveguides for sub millimeter and millimeter wave applications.
For the operation frequencies between 210-340 GHz

SOFIA RAHIMINEJAD

This thesis was carried out as a part of the Erasmus Mundus program of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology with the trajectory Katholieke Universiteit Leuven - Chalmers University of Technology

Department of Microtechnology and Nanoscience CHALMERS UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY Gteborg, Sweden 2011

Micromachined ridge gap waveguides for sub millimeter and millimeter wave applications. For the operation frequencies between 210-340 GHz Soa Rahiminejad Thesis for the Degree of Erasmus Mundus Master of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology c Soa Rahiminejad, 2011

Micro and Nanosystems group Department of Microtechnology and Nanoscience CHALMERS UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY SE-412 96 Gteborg Sweden www.chalmers.se Tel. +46-(0)31 772 1000

Cover: Micromachined ridge gap waveguides for sub millimeter and millimeter wave applications. Printed by Reproservice Gteborg, Sweden 2011

Micromachined ridge gap waveguides for sub millimeter and millimeter wave applications.
For the operation frequencies of 210-340 GHz Soa Rahiminejad Department of Microtechnology and Nanoscience, Chalmers University of Technology

Abstract Ridge gap waveguides are a new design for high frequency, low loss waveguides. It has been patented and proven for 10-20 GHz and until this was the highest operation frequencies accomplished. The ridge gap waveguide uses metamaterials to conne the electromagnetic wave and does not require solid electrical conducting sidewalls or good alignment. In this thesis a novel proof of concept has been done for the rst time, constructing a ridge gap waveguide and resonator for the range of 210-340 GHz using MEMS technology. The work also included the designing of a photolithography mask for the MEMS fabrication and a copper package for measurement of device functionality. A specic processplan was developed and both the waveguide and resonator was fabricated. Simulations where done indicating good connement at the operation frequencies. It also shows resonance peaks within the operation range for the resonator and reections of the waveguide below -15 dB. Measurments where done on the resonator giving a hint of resonance though with uncertainty.

Keywords: MEMS, RF, Waveguide, High frequency, GHz

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Acknowledgements
It has been a pleasure to have Peter Enoksson and Sjoerd Haasl as supervisors during this project. I have learnt a great deal from them and am looking forward to continue working with them. I would also like to thank Per-Simon Kildal and his group for always beeing there when I needed help. Thanks to Vessen Vasilev for helping us to verify our work. I like to thank Ninva Asmar for lling in the blanks by adding her knowledge to the project. And everyone at the micro- and nanosystems group for their advice and contribution. I would like to thank my parents, without them I wouldnt be who I am today even though they still today dont know what they did. Thanks to my sister, the girls at Cafe Borren and my boyfriend for all the support.

Gteborg, Juni 2011 Soa Rahiminejad

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Contents
Abstract . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2 Introduction Background 2.1 The Ridge Gap Waveguide . . . 2.2 Microstrip Transmission Line . . 2.3 Substrate Integrated Waveguide . 2.4 Photonic Waveguides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii iv 1 2 2 3 4 5 6 6 10 10 11 12 13 13 13 14 14 14 15 16 17 18 20 22 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 24 26 27 29 29 31

Design 3.1 Mask Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.2 Package Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.2.1 Ridge Gap Waveguide Package 3.2.2 Resonator Package . . . . . . . 3.3 Tolerances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Process & Fabrication 4.1 Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . 4.1.1 Sputtering . . . . . . . 4.1.2 Lithography . . . . . . 4.1.3 Plasma Etch - STS ICP 4.1.4 Dicing . . . . . . . . . 4.2 Process plan . . . . . . . . . . 4.3 Issues to Consider . . . . . . . 4.4 Process Tests . . . . . . . . . 4.5 Dicing Statistics . . . . . . . . 4.6 Device Fabrication . . . . . . Measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Results 6.1 Fabrication Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.2 Simulation of The Wave Connement . . . . 6.3 Simulated Resonance Data For The Resonator 6.4 Measured Resonance Data For The Resonator 6.5 Simulated data for the waveguide . . . . . . . Discussion

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Conclusion Future Work 9.1 Packaging . . . . . . . . . . 9.2 Measurement . . . . . . . . 9.3 Probe Measuring Possibility 9.4 Groove Waveguide . . . . . 9.5 Pillar Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Bibliography A A.1 Processplan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A.2 Schematic processplan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A.3 Paper A: Micromachined Ridge Gap Waveguide for Sub Millimeter and Millimeter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A.4 Paper B, Abstract for Eurosensor 2011: Design of Micromachined Ridge Gap Waveguides for Millimeter-Wave Applications . . . . . .

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List of Figures
2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 A 3D design of the bed of nails texture. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A schematic view of the rules for conductors and electromagnetic waves, to the left. And the implementation of these rules for magnetic conductors, to the right. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A sketch of the microstrip transmission line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Here the Electric (E) and Magnetic (H) eld around the microstrip line is displayed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The SIW displayed, showing the conducting via holes and the conducting plates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The photonic waveguide showing the holes with gaps and the light (red) traveling between. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The complete mask design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . In this gure two versions of both devices are displayed here. . . . . The labeling text, indicating which design version the chip is. . . . . . The ridge waveguide with two 90 bents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The resonator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Saw crosses at every corner of a device. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . This is a test structure to check if the lithography was successful. . . . Alignment marks to make it possible for future masks to be aligned additionally . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A test structure to measure the etch rate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The measuring 3/4" ange with the rectangular waveguide placed in the middle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A picture taken with a standard microscope of the staircase structure in the copper package . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A microscope straight on view of the milled surface in the lid above the staircase. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A 3D sideview of the milled surface above the staircase . . . . . . . . The nished copper package made for the resonator. . . . . . . . . . . The Si after Al sputtering . . . . . . . . . . . The photoresist spun on top. . . . . . . . . . After Al is developed . . . . . . . . . . . . . After ICP DRIE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The measured width for each waveguide chip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 3 4 4 4 5 7 7 7 8 8 9 9 9 10 10 11 11 11 12 15 15 16 16 16 18

The measured width for each resonator chip. The green line is the measured mean and the red line is the wanted value . . . . . . . . . . 4.8 The measured length for each resonator chip. The green line is the measured mean value. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.9 The measure end-to-end difference in width for the waveguide strips . 4.10 The measure end-to-end difference in width for the resonator strips . . 5.1 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 A schematic view of the measurement setup with real corresponding pictures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

4.7

18 19 19 20 23 24 25 25 26 26 27 28 28 29 30 30

A SEM picture of the ridge gap waveguide with the gold layer. . . . . SEM picture of the ridge gap resonator with the gold layer deposited. A cross-section SEM view of the device displaying the pillars . . . . . The gure shows a 2D color plot of the simulated absolute value of E-eld for the ridge gap waveguide at each frequency point, including rectangular waveguide transitions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.5 This gure shows 2D color plot of the simulated absolute value of the E- eld for the open circuit ridge gap waveguide resonator. . . . . . . 6.6 3D gure of the resonator designed in HFSS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.7 Simulated S21 at around 230 GHz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.8 Simulated S21 at around 280 GHz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.9 The measured signals S11, S22, S12, S21 from the resonator . . . . . 6.10 Simulated data for a straight ridge case including transitions . . . . . 6.11 A 3D design made in HFSS of the structure simulated in gure 6.10 .

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Chapter 1

Introduction
Sub millimeter and milimeter technology is an expanding new eld and hence so is the need for high frequency transmission lines. Good high frequency waveguides require electrical conducting solid sidewalls and good manufacturing alignment. Rectangular waveguides full these requirements well and are traditionally used due to their low losses. However when attempting to construct waveguides for higher frequencies the dimensions decreases proportionally and milling becomes difcult. There are waveguides which do not require solid walls and doing so avoid the issue of milling though their losses are still higher than a rectangular waveguide. A new ridge gap waveguide has been introduced for the range 10-20 GHz [1]. The ridge gap waveguide uses metamaterial structures to conne the electromagnetic wave in the air gap between a conducting lid and ridge. There is no need for electrical conducting sidewalls or good alignment and still the ridge gap waveguide can maintain low losses compared to other waveguides. The whole structure is made of conducting material and no dielectric material is necessary. The design also makes any additional packaging unnecessary since the structure itself is shielded by conducting material. To increase the ridge gap wavegudies capability up to the range around 270 GHz milling is not possible any more. Micromachining on the other hand can offer high precision and open up a new frontier of high frequency microwave components. In this thesis a proof of concept is made by fabricating the ridge gap waveguide for the range 210-340 GHz and also a resonator with the same technology. This is done by using MEMS technology to create these high frequency structures.

Chapter 2

Background
In this chapter, the ridge gap waveguide will be introduced in more depth. There are also many other different waveguides today, all with their advantages and disadvantages. Waveguides which can be micromachined or have a design similar to the ridge gap waveguide are also presented to give a short overview of the eld.

2.1

The Ridge Gap Waveguide

The ideal gap waveguide consists of two parallel plates, one perfectly electrically conducting (PEC) and the other perfectly magnetically conducting (PMC) with a conducting line embedded in it. The PMC is an articial surface with high impedance made by using a metamaterial texture called "bed of nails" (see gure 2.1) that consists of a set of rectangular pillars [2]. There are other textures using periodic structures such as e.g. the mushroom-shaped surface which affects the electromagnetic bandgap (EBG) [3] and more has been studied in [4] which could be used. For simplicity and its isotropic properties, only the "bed of nails" structure will be implemented in this work.

Figure 2.1: A 3D design of the bed of nails texture. The AMC (Articial Magnetically Conducting) surface is a metamaterial. Metamaterials consist of textured surfaces made to have special characteristics, in this case magnetic conductivity. The rst attempt to construct magnetic conductivity was with so-called soft and hard surfaces [5]. In this work, the metamaterial is realized with

2.2. MICROSTRIP TRANSMISSION LINE

Figure 2.2: A schematic view of the rules for conductors and electromagnetic waves, to the left. And the implementation of these rules for magnetic conductors, to the right.

the structure "bed of nails" [2]. At a certain frequency range, the metamaterial causes a cutoff region called an electromagnetic bandgap (EBG). For these frequencies, the metamaterial acts as an AMC surface. Here we use three rules (g. 2.2) for the electromagnetic waves to explain the waveguide in this thesis. 1) Electromagnetic waves do not pass through electric conductors, but rather, they are reected. 2) Any electric eld that touches an electric conductor must be perpendicular to it. 3) Any magnetic eld close to an electric conductor must be parallel to it. One can state the same for magnetic elds: any magnetic eld that touches a magnetic conductor needs to be perpendicular to it and so on. When an AMC and a PEC are opposite of each other and close enough, smaller than a quarter wavelength to be exact, the electromagnetic wave cannot propagate in between these two surfaces because of the contradicting conditions thereby creating a cutoff region. The wave is conned to the space between the two conducting surfaces. The principle of operation is based on theoretical facts stated in [6]. These leads to the following conditions: the gap height h between the pin surface and the lid needs to be h < /4 and the pin height d = /4 for the desired frequency range.

2.2

Microstrip Transmission Line

The microstrip transmission line is similar to a parallel plate waveguide. It consists of a conducting ground plane and a conducting strip parallel to each other separated with a dielectric substrate see gure 2.3. Ideally, the electromagnetic eld is conned between the strip and the ground plane acting as a transverse electromagnetic (TEM) wave. However in reality, some eld lines are going through both the dielectric and the surrounding air shown in gure 2.4 giving a quasi-TEM mode. The effective dielectric

CHAPTER 2. BACKGROUND

constant will then be lower than the substrate. By having a high dielectric one can approximate a TEM pattern. The microstrip line can be fabricated on a printed circuit board (PCB) allowing active components to be mounted on the board. However, if shielding is required, the losses will increase.

Figure 2.3: A sketch of the microstrip transmission line

Figure 2.4: Here the Electric (E) and Magnetic (H) eld around the microstrip line is displayed.

2.3

Substrate Integrated Waveguide

Substrate integrated waveguides (SIW) are a cross between a rectangular waveguide and a microstrip line. A dielectric substrate is sandwiched between two conducting plates. The sidewalls consist of conducting via holes. The electromagnetic wave will act as within a rectangular waveguide lled with a dielectric as seen in gure 2.5. The SIW performance when compared to other waveguides is determined by its losses. The conductor loss is low compared to microstrip lines. The leakage loss depends on the stacking of the via holes, the dielectric will cause a dielectric loss which is proportional to the frequency so for millimeter applications one should consider this as a large contributing factor.

Figure 2.5: The SIW displayed, showing the conducting via holes and the conducting plates.

2.4. PHOTONIC WAVEGUIDES

2.4

Photonic Waveguides

There are similar methods using periodic textures to conne light instead of GHz electromagnetic waves, with so-called photonic crystals. This structure is somewhat inverted to the previous ones. The light travels through the material and is conned with gaps of air instead. By using the large change of refractive indices between the material and air the transmission of the light will be low. If one then would periodically alternate layers of e.g. silicon and air the total transmission could almost be extinguished and a photonic bandgap will be achieved. To also enclose light of grazing angles, a checker patterned array is used see gure 2.6. An example of a CMOS nanophotonic waveguide can be seen in [7].

Figure 2.6: The photonic waveguide showing the holes with gaps and the light (red) traveling between.

Chapter 3

Design
A ridge gap waveguide has been introduced by Per-Simon Kildal and his group [6]. The design of the resonator and the waveguide here are based on this design. However the designs had to be altered and adjusted to perform these high frequencies and to t the measuring equipment. The waveguide is no longer connected capacitively nonetheless the connection is from the side. The PEC lid and the ridge are not made out of the same material, partly because of facilitating the fabrication and partly becasude this is not necessary. To be able to micromachine these structures, a mask had to be designed that takes into account the wafer and process properties. A package is designed for three purposes: 1) to support the fragile chip during measurements to avoid breakage, 2) to act as conducting lid above the active area of the chip and 3) to provide a transition interface to guide the wave from the ridge into a rectangular waveguide.

3.1

Mask Design

The mask was designed in the CAD-programme L-Edit which is a common program for mask design. Cadence was rst considered, however, the capacity and complexity of Cadence is far more than necessary. A 6" wafer will be used corresponding to 150 mm requiring a 7" rectangular mask. The mask design is Bright Field meaning that dark areas will be covered with chrome and white areas are transparent as seen in gure 3.1. The full mask has four transparent blocks to help alignment of the mask and the wafer. The outer circle marks the wafer area. A 10 mm buffer area is established (inner circle)to avoid damage by tweezers and similar objects. All the devices are placed into a grid structure to facilitate the dicing later on. Beyond drawing a two dimensional top-view design of the devices some mask-related structures are needed. Two versions of the waveguide with two 90 bends and two versions of the resonator can be shown in gure 3.2. The waveguide and the resonator in the middle of gure 3.2 are two microns larger in every dimension to compensate for any over etching. Often one takes into account up to 3m over etch. The waveguide and the resonator on the sides is one micron smaller in every direction. These variants enable compensation when etching was not overdone and leaves room for the one micron gold to be deposited and still keep its dimensions.

3.1. MASK DESIGN

Figure 3.1: The complete mask design

Figure 3.2: In this gure two versions of both devices are displayed here.

To distinguish the two different versions displayed in gure 3.2 text markings are placed on the device see gure 3.3.Every device is labeled with a text indicating which one of the two versions it is. The text does not say which device it is because this is visible with the naked eye. The difference of a few m on the other hand is not.

Figure 3.3: The labeling text, indicating which design version the chip is.

CHAPTER 3. DESIGN

In gure 3.4 the waveguide is displayed. Here one can see the surrounding pillars which will conne the wave. A minimum of two rows is required to assure connement. The pillars are placed periodically to better conne at any angle. The waveguide has two 90 bents to show when operating that the electromagnetic wave will follow the ridge without any losses. The waveguide will be connected from the short sides of the device. The total active area of the waveguide chip is 5.29 mm 3.5 mm. The pillar area is 167 m 167 m and the width of the ridge is 221 m. The resonator shown in gure 3.5 will be connected from the short side with three rows of pillars damping the incoming wave with 20 dB each. The minimum of two rows is also used here as in the waveguide and the pillar area is the same. The total active area of the resonator chip is 4.95 mm 2.22 mmand the width of the ridge is 279 m

Figure 3.4: The ridge waveguide with two 90 bents.

Figure 3.5: The resonator Saw crosses are marked on the mask to indicate the dicing cut line see gure 3.6. The center of the hourglass shapes indicates the center of the dicing line. The corner inside of the cross shows the crossing of two dicing lines. It also positions the corner of the device. A test structure to verify the photolithography is displayed in gure 3.7. If the checked pattern squares are not clear and overlapping means the wafer was overexposed. The lines can be observed and measured in a microscope to verify the width. The structures are repeated and decreasing in size from 10 to 1 m. The mask is prepared for future work by adding two alignment marks on a line in the center. Alignment marks are used when one needs more than one layer of different materials and different masks for them. The masks are placed on top of each other and

3.1. MASK DESIGN

Figure 3.6: Saw crosses at every corner of a device.

Figure 3.7: This is a test structure to check if the lithography was successful.

one can see the overlapping of patterns in a microscope.

Figure 3.8: Alignment marks to make it possible for future masks to be aligned additionally

The photolithography test structure mentioned before was used to observe the exposure affect, another test structure shown in gure 3.9 is used to measure the etch rate in a similar way. The big square is a 1 mm2 trench to measure the actual etch depth. The small is a 10 m wide groove to measure how much the sides are over etched. In the bottom left corner the photolithography test structure can be seen.

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CHAPTER 3. DESIGN

Figure 3.9: A test structure to measure the etch rate.

3.2

Package Design

To be able to measure on the device, a measuring ange with a rectangular waveguide situated in it is used, gure 3.10. Copper packages were milled to t the chips for structural support as the ange is connected to the chip. The packages has a contact area of 20 20 mm2 to t the ange. The package also serves as the parallel PEC surface placed above the waveguide where the sidewalls assure a xed air gap. Copper was chosen as a material over brass because of its high conductivity. A disadvantage with copper is that it is a soft material. When milling edges will not be sharp and traces of copper residues can be found sticking out at the edges. Another problem is that copper is easily oxidized and with that loses in its conductivity. The structure for the resonator respectively the waveguide differ somewhat, depending on contact tolerances.

Figure 3.10: The measuring 3/4" ange with the rectangular waveguide placed in the middle.

3.2.1

Ridge Gap Waveguide Package

For the wave to be transferred from the air-gap waveguide to the rectangular waveguide inside the ange, a staircase interface is needed see gure 3.11. The staircase structure could be micromachined with the rest of the waveguide to a certain limit. Using a combination of three different mask materials, one could micromachine three different heights using layers of different hardmasks in the same wafer. More than three different mask materials makes the process more complex and doing so the height accuracy will be compromised. This structure requires ve steps , which

3.2. PACKAGE DESIGN

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Figure 3.11: A picture taken with a standard microscope of the staircase structure in the copper package

is why it was decided to dene the staircase structure by milling the copper package. The bottom of the ridge gap waveguide is positioned level with the bottom of the staircase structure and with the rectangular waveguide. The lid also has to be milled in steps, gure 3.12, so that the opening of the rectangular waveguide, which is larger than the opening of the air-gap waveguide, will not cause reections. The top part of the package will enclose the waveguide except above the active area over the chip. The chip will not be restrained from the sides to give more degrees of freedom when mounting the chip.

Figure 3.12: A microscope straight on view of the milled surface in the lid above the staircase.

Figure 3.13: A 3D sideview of the milled surface above the staircase

3.2.2

Resonator Package

The resonator chip is conned from the sides by the package as it is contacted from the front and the back. Because the chip lengths are the same for the resonator and the waveguide they both have a length of 20 mm, However only the active area needs the air-gap above. Therefore one can see the top and bottom part of the package as symmetrical except above the active area where a deeper trench has been milled. The ange will be connected with four guiding pins and two screws as seen in gure 3.14. The resonator is weakly coupled so there is no need for a transition interface like in

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CHAPTER 3. DESIGN

the waveguide package. Here the chip will be slipped in from the front or back of the package.

Figure 3.14: The nished copper package made for the resonator.

3.3

Tolerances

There are two parts of this project which can deviate in accuracy and affect the end result. The two components are the chip and the package. The chip can alter in component dimensions and in the overall chip size. The width of the pillars and the ridge depends on the both the lithography and the etching. Low resolution after lithography depends mainly on the exposure time, if it is too long, the exposed areas become bigger. When exposed too little, the exposed areas become smaller. How to determine the quality of the exposure is done by using the photolithography test pattern gure 3.7. Every row of patterns gives a certain resolution, 10 m, 5 m, 2 m and 1 m. The etching resolution is partly dened by the photolithography and depending on the hard mask. If a thick mask is wet etched, the underetch of the mask will limit the resolution as well. When etching the trenches, there is a +10 % variation of the desired depth. This is due to the non-uniformity of the etch. The overall chip size is dened by the dicing. The saw width is around 50 m and the cut line can add an additional +10 m at each side, which needs to be considered. The package can affect the measurement in several ways. The gaps between the chip and the staircase is very sensitive. According to simulations, this needs to be a perfect t and have good conductive connection to each other. The simulations show that already at 1 m distance, the losses would be too high.

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