De-embedding transmission line measurements for accurate modeling of IC designs

Author

Mangan, Alain M. ; Voinigescu, Sorin P. ; Yang, Ming-Ta ; Tazlauanu, Mihai

Author_Institution

Quake Technol. Inc., Ottawa, Ont., Canada

Volume

53

Issue

2

fYear

2006

Firstpage

235

Lastpage

241

Abstract

A new technique to de-embed the contributions of parasitic structures from transmission line measurements is presented and applied to microstrip lines fabricated in 90- and 130-nm RF-CMOS technologies. De-embedded measurements are used to extract characteristic impedance, attenuation constant, group delay, and effective permittivity. The effective thickness of the ground plane is demonstrated to be as important as the thickness of the top metal layer in minimizing interconnect loss. Furthermore, it is confirmed that metal area densities as low as 65% are adequate for the ground plane of microstrip lines.

Keywords

CMOS integrated circuits; integrated circuit design; integrated circuit interconnections; microstrip lines; radiofrequency integrated circuits; transmission lines; 130 nm; 90 nm; RF CMOS technology; de-embedded measurements; integrated circuit design modeling; interconnect loss minimization; microstrip lines; parasitic structures; slotted ground planes; transmission line measurements; Circuit testing; Distributed parameter circuits; Impedance; Integrated circuit interconnections; Integrated circuit modeling; Matrix decomposition; Microstrip; Transmission line matrix methods; Transmission line measurements; Transmission line theory; Characterization; de-embedding; deep-submicrometer technologies; integrated circuits; interconnect; losses; microstrip lines; slotted ground planes; transmission lines;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Electron Devices, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9383

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TED.2005.861726

Filename

1580859