Fabrication and performance of a novel suspended RF spiral inductor

Author

Wang, Xi-Ning ; Zhao, Xiao-Lin ; Zhou, Yong ; Dai, Xu-Han ; Cai, Bing-Chu

Author_Institution

Key Lab. for Thin Film & Microfabrication of Minist. of Educ., Shanghai JiaoTong Univ., China

Volume

51

Issue

5

fYear

2004

fDate

5/1/2004 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

814

Lastpage

816

Abstract

A novel suspended radio frequency (RF) spiral inductor was fabricated on glass substrate by using the microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technology. The suspended spiral inductor is sustained with the T-shaped pillars. Great improvements in Q-factor have been achieved because of the separation between the substrate and the inductor. In the fabrication process, fine polishing of the photoresist is used to simplify the processes and ensure the seed layer and the pillars contact perfectly, and dry etching technique is used to remove the seed layer. The inductance and Q-factor are measured using the HP 8722D network analyzer in the frequency range of 0.05-10 GHz. The maximum quality factor of this inductor is 37 for the inductance of 4.2 nH with a suspended height of 60 μm. Also, the relationship between the maximum quality factor and the suspended height were studied; the maximum quality factor grows gradually with the increase of the suspended height.

Keywords

Q-factor; inductors; micromechanical devices; photoresists; radiofrequency integrated circuits; 0.05 to 10 GHz; MEMS; T-shaped pillars; dry etching; microelectromechanical systems; photoresist; radio frequency; seed layer; substrate; suspended RF spiral inductor; suspended spiral inductor; Dry etching; Fabrication; Glass; Inductors; Microelectromechanical systems; Micromechanical devices; Q factor; Radio frequency; Resists; Spirals; MEMS; Microelectromechanical systems; RF; radio frequency; suspended spiral inductor;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Electron Devices, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9383

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TED.2004.825822

Filename

1303843