Design and Fabrication of Ultra-Wideband Baluns Embedded in Multilayer Liquid Crystal Polymer Flex

Author

Chen, Andy C. ; Chen, Morgan J. ; Pham, Anh-Vu

Author_Institution

Univ. of California, Davis

Volume

30

Issue

3

fYear

2007

Firstpage

533

Lastpage

540

Abstract

In this paper, we present the design and fabrication of ultra-wideband (UWB) baluns embedded in multilayer liquid crystal polymer (LCP) flex. Fabrication techniques are demonstrated for processing these commercially available LCP thin-films by standard PCB equipments. Variations in the LCP thin-film thickness are characterized and compared before and after lamination. Results show good dimensional stability of the material, a critical factor in controlling the line impedances and performance of the balun. Electrical results of these baluns show bandwidths exceeding 3.1-10.6 GHz with less than 1 dB insertion loss, and amplitude and phase imbalance less than 1.2 dB and 2deg, respectively. These baluns are ideal for applications in UWB communication systems specified by the IEEE 802.15.3a standard.

Keywords

baluns; liquid crystal polymers; microstrip lines; system-in-package; ultra wideband technology; LCP thin-film thickness; UWB communication systems; multilayer liquid crystal polymer flex; ultra wideband baluns; Communication system control; Crystalline materials; Fabrication; Impedance matching; Lamination; Liquid crystal polymers; Nonhomogeneous media; Stability; Thin films; Ultra wideband technology; Balun; liquid crystal polymer (LCP); microwave; thin-film; ultra-wideband (UWB);

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Advanced Packaging, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1521-3323

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TADVP.2007.901577

Filename

4285925