Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-r5zm4 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-16T22:07:58.819Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

50 GHz S-shaped rat-race balun with 1.4 dB insertion loss in a wafer-level chip-size package process

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 June 2009

Ahmet Oncu
Affiliation:
School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
Chiaki Inui
Affiliation:
School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
Yasuo Manzawa
Affiliation:
School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
Minoru Fujishima*
Affiliation:
School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan. School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
*
Corresponding author: M. Fujishima Email: Fujishima@ieee.org

Abstract

In millimeter-wave CMOS circuits, a balun is useful for connecting off-chip single-end devices and on-chip differential circuits to improve noise immunity. However, an on-chip balun occupies a large chip area. To reduce the chip area required for the on-chip balun, a new rat-race balun using a rewiring technology with a wafer-level chip-size package (W-CSP) is proposed. The W-CSP balun occupies no area in a die because it is placed over integrated circuits. In the proposed balun, an S-shaped structure is adopted in order to directly connect the balun to differential GSGSG pads on a chip with a small area. The S-shaped W-CSP balun was fabricated on a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrate. The core area of the S-shaped rat-race balun is 480×735 µm, which is 22.4% that of a square rat-race balun. As a result of measurement, we found that the minimum insertion loss is 1.4 dB and the operating frequency ranges from 40 to 61 GHz.

Type
Original Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and the European Microwave Association 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

[1]Trifunovic, V.; Jokanovic, B.: Review of printed Marchand and double Y baluns: characteristics and application. IEEE Trans. Microwave Theory Tech., 42 (1994).Google Scholar
[2]Razavi, B.: Design considerations for direct-conversion receivers. IEEE Trans. Circuits Syst. II: Analog Digit. Signal Process., 44 (1997), 428435.Google Scholar
[3]Razavi, B.: Design of Analog CMOS Integrated Circuits, McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2001.Google Scholar
[4]Chirala, M.K.; Floyd, B.A.: Millimeter-wave Lange and ring-hybrid couplers in a silicon technology for E-band applications. IEEE MTT-S Int. Microwave Symp. Dig., (2006), 15471550.Google Scholar
[5]Wang, S.; Tzuang, C.-K.C.: Compacted Ka-band CMOS rat-race hybrid using synthesized transmission lines. MTT-S Int. Microwave Symp. Dig., (2007), 10231026.Google Scholar
[6]Ng, C.Y.; Chongcheawchamnan, M.; Robertson, I.D.: Miniature 38 GHz couplers and baluns using multilayer GaAs MMIC technology, In 33rd European Microwave Conf. Proc., 3 (2003), 14351438.Google Scholar
[7]Lai, I.C.H.; Inui, C.; Fujishima, M.: CMOS on-chip stacked Marchand balun for millimeter-wave applications. IEICE Electron. Express, 4 (2007), 4853.Google Scholar
[8]Liu, J.-X.; Hsu, C.-Y.; Chuang, H.-R.; Chen, C.-Y.: A 60-GHz millimeter wave CMOS Marchan balun. IEEE RFIC Symp., 2007, 445448.Google Scholar
[9]Ang, K.S.; Robertson, I.D.; Elgaid, K.; Thayne, I.G.: 40 to 90 GHz impedance-transforming CPW Marchand balun. IEEE MTT-S Int. Microwave Symp. Dig., 2 (2000), 11411144.Google Scholar
[10]Hamed, K.W.; Freundorfer, A.P.; Antar, Y.M.M.: A monolithic double-balanced direct conversion mixer with an integrated wideband passive balun. IEEE J. Solid-State Circuits, 40 (2005), 622629.Google Scholar
[11]Wu, P.-S.; Lin, C.-S.; Huang, T.-W.; Wang, H.; Wang, Y.-C.; Wu, C.-S.: A millimeter-wave ultra-compact broadband diode mixer using modified Marchand balun, in 13th European Gallium Arsenide and Other Compound Semiconductors Application Symp., 2006, 349352.Google Scholar
[12]Garrou, P.: Wafer level chip scale packaging (WL-CSP): an overview. IEEE Trans. Adv. Packag., 23 (2000).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
[13]Hajimiri, A.: (INVITED) mm-wave silicon ICs: an opportunity for holistic design, in Proc. of IEEE Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits Symp., 2008.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
[14]Lai, I.C.H.; Tanimoto, H.; Fujishima, M.: Characterization of high Q transmission line structure for advanced CMOS processes. IEICE Trans. Electron., E89-C (2006), 18721879.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
[15]Inui, C.; Manzawa, Y.; Fujishima, M.: On-chip S-shaped rat-race balun for millimeter-wave band using wafer-level chip-size package process, in Proc. of IEEE European Microwave Integrated Circuit Conf., Oct. 27–28, 2008, 3235.Google Scholar
[16]Lai, I.C.H.; Fujishima, M.: High-Q slow-wave transmission line for chip area reduction on advanced CMOS processes, in Proc. of IEEE Int. Conf. on Microelectronic Test Structures, March 19–22, 2007, 192195.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
[17]Bex, H.: New broadband balun. Electron. Lett., 11 (1975), 4748.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
[18]Cathelin, A., et al. : Design for millimeter-wave applications in silicon technologies (session invited), in Proceeding of 33rd European Solid State Circuits Conf., September 11–13, 2007, 464471.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
[19]Goto, Y.; Natsukari, Y.; Fujishima, M.: New on-chip de-embedding for accurate evaluation of symmetric devices. Jpn. J. Appl. Phys., 47 (2008), 28122816.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
[20]Bockelman, D.E.; Eisenstadt, W.R.: Combined differential and common-mode analysis of power splitters and combiners. IEEE Trans. Microwave Theory, 43 (1995), 26272632.Google Scholar