Device technology and integration techniques for commercial MM-wave systems

Progress in semiconductor materials and microwave device design, fabrication, and integration technology has been steady and rapid; the most visible beneficiary of these improvements has been the cellular telephone industry, which is now supplying subscriber units of increasingly smaller size using active and passive integration techniques. In principle, these device and integration technologies can be extended to millimeter-wave applications; in fact, investments are still necessary in many areas to meet the component user price demands of the MM-wave marketplace. Three major initiatives sponsored by the US Government, MIMIC, DPA Title III, and MAFET, have allowed significant advances in the design and production of millimeter-wave semiconductor materials, devices, and higher-level assemblies. While government needs are served as a result of these programs, commercial markets also benefit by lower-cost solutions to similar problems. The following paper reviews the status of commercial millimeter-wave applications and the progress in and status of areas of supporting technology