Packaging-compatible high Q microinductors and microfilters for wireless applications

To meet requirements in mobile communication and microwave integrated circuits, miniaturization of the inductive components that many of these systems require is of key importance. At present, active circuitry is used which simulates inductor performance and which has high Q-factor and inductance; however, such circuitry has higher power consumption and higher potential for noise injection than passive inductive components. An alternate approach is to fabricate integrated inductors, in which lithographic techniques are used to pattern an inductor directly on a substrate or a chip. However, integrated inductors can suffer from low Q-factor and high parasitic effects due to substrate proximity. To expand the range of applicability of integrated microinductors at high frequency, their electrical characteristics, especially quality factor, should be improved. In this work, integrated spiral microinductors suspended (approximately 60 μm) above the substrate using surface micromachining techniques to reduce the undesirable effect of substrate proximity on the inductor performance are investigated. The fabricated inductors have inductances ranging from 15-40 nH and Q-factors ranging from 40-50 at frequencies of 0.9-2.5 GHz. Microfilters based on these inductors are also investigated by combining these inductors with integrated polymer filled composite capacitors