Terahertz Micromachined On-Wafer Probes: Repeatability and Reliability

Author

Chen, Lihan ; Zhang, Chunhu ; Reck, Theodore J. ; Arsenovic, Alex ; Bauwens, Matthew ; Groppi, Christopher ; Lichtenberger, Arthur W. ; Weikle, Robert M., II ; Barker, N. Scott

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., Univ. of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA

Volume

60

Issue

9

fYear

2012

Firstpage

2894

Lastpage

2902

Abstract

An improved micromachined on-wafer probe covering frequencies 500-750 GHz is demonstrated in this paper to address sub-millimeter-wave integrated-circuit testing. Measurements of a prototype WR-1.5 micromachined on-wafer probe exhibit a return loss better than 12 dB and a mean insertion loss of 6.5 dB from 500 to 750 GHz. The repeatability of on-wafer measurements with the micromachined probe is investigated. Monte Carlo simulations are used to identify the dominant error source of on-wafer measurement and to estimate the measurement accuracy. The dominant error source is positioning error, which results in phase uncertainty. Reliability tests show the probe is robust and can sustain over 20 000 contacts.

Keywords

Monte Carlo methods; integrated circuit reliability; integrated circuit testing; measurement systems; submillimetre wave integrated circuits; Monte Carlo simulations; dominant error source; frequency 500 GHz to 750 GHz; loss 6.5 dB; measurement accuracy; on-wafer measurements; phase uncertainty; positioning error; reliability; repeatability; submillimeter-wave integrated-circuit testing; terahertz micromachined on-wafer probes; Calibration; Coplanar waveguides; Measurement uncertainty; Microstrip; Probes; Standards; Transmission line measurements; Micromachined; on-wafer probe; reliability; terahertz;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Microwave Theory and Techniques, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9480

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TMTT.2012.2205016

Filename

6230621