A low-cost, low-temperature packaging concept is proposed for localized sealing and control of the ambient of a device cavity appropriate for Radio-Frequency (RF) Micro- Electro-Mechanical (MEMS) devices, such as resonators and switches. These devices require application specific packaging to facilitate their integration, provide protection from the environment, and control interactions with other circuitry. In order to integrate these devices into standard integrated circuit (IC) process flows and minimize damage due to post-fabrication steps, packaging is performed at the wafer level. In this work Indium and Silver are used to seal a monolithic localized hermetic pack- age. The cavity protecting the device is formed using standard lithography-based processing techniques. Metal walls are built up from the substrate and encapsulated by a glass or silicon lid to create a monolithic micro-hermetic package surrounding a predefined RF microsystem. The bond for the seal is then formed by rapid alloying of Indium and Silver using a temperature greater than that of the melting point of Indium. This ensures that the seal formed can subsequently function at temperatures higher than the melting temperature of pure Indium. This method offers a low-temperature bonding technique with thermal robustness suitable for wafer-level process integration. The ultimate goal is to create a seal in a vacuum environment. In this dissertation, design trade-offs made in wafer-level packaging are explained using thermo-mechanical stress and electrical performance simulations. Prototype passive microwave circuits are packaged using the developed packaging process and the performance of the fabricated circuits before and after packaging is analyzed. The effect of the package on coplanar waveguide structures are characterized by measuring scattering parameters and models are developed as a design tool for wafer-level package integration. The small scale of the localized package is expected to provide greater reliability over conventional full chip packages. / Ph. D.

The recent years have witnessed an unprecedented growth in the number of connected devices and amount of bandwidth required by the multiple services offered by wireless devices. The current 5G standard addresses such issues by adopting higher carrier frequencies and antennas with a large number of radiating elements. The former solution enables to exploit larger bandwidths in the millimeter-wave (mmWave) portion of the spectrum, while the latter one allows access points to serve an increasingly higher number of users. Both find realization in the Multiple-Input-Multiple-Output (MIMO) antenna systems with their enhanced beamforming capabilities. While the adoption of the hybrid digital-analog beamforming architecture lightens the overall system complexity, the need of miniaturized, high-performance and broadband hardware components is still an open issue. Passive Radio Frequency (RF) components in MicroElectroMechanical-Systems technology (RF-MEMS) offer notable and broadband electrical performances, while maintaining the marked miniaturization required for the hardware to be employed in the MIMO antennas, characterizing the current and future telecommunications scenario. Whilst numerous examples of single RF-MEMS switches, attenuators and phase shifters are available in the literature since about two decades, still limited attention is dedicated to the development of MEMS-based multi-device monolithic networks embedding such devices. High-performance RF-MEMS networks of this kind could represent the base of future MIMO beamforming architectures. Given such a context, the fundamental core of this thesis is the design and the realization of ad hoc RF-MEMS devices to be integrated in a reconfigurable monolithic module, operating in the realistic scenario of the mm-Wave portion of the spectrum allocated to 5G in Europe (24.25–27.5 GHz). The resulting devices consist in a 3-bit attenuator, three 1-bit phase-shifting cells and a Single-Pole-Double-Throw (SPDT) switch, each relying on membranes featuring a reduced actuation voltage, in the 5–9 V range, for an easier interfacing with electronics based on Complementary Metal–Oxide–Semiconductor (CMOS). To this purpose, the ad hoc designed MEMS switching membranes, along with prototypes of the building blocks to be embedded in the final module, are designed, optimized and fabricated. The experimental measurements performed on the prototypes of membranes (i.e. micro-switches), attenuation cells, optimized resistors and a phase shifter are compared to FEM-based (Finite Element Method) simulated results. Such comparison validates the simulation approach, in both the electromagnetic and the electro-mechanical domains, by which the proposed module is then designed and optimized in its final layout. To the best of our knowledge, this project is among the first to investigate the development of a monolithic module, entirely based on RF-MEMS passives, implementing both the attenuation and the phase shifting functionalities that can be employed in hybrid beamforming architectures at each antenna element. More in detail, the module features at least 25 attenuation and phase shifting states, from -5.39 dB to -13.51 dB by variable steps, and from 10.59° to 158.46°, respectively. Concerning the SPDT switch, satisfying electrical performances have been demonstrated in terms of return loss (<-10 dB), insertion loss (<-1.2 dB) and isolation (<-25 dB) over the 0–30 GHz interval. Despite their increased complexity, appealing results have marked the proposed attenuator and the phase-shifting cells, whose return and insertion losses are always better than -10 dB and -3 dB, respectively, along the frequency interval of interest. With an overall footprint not exceeding 9.51x3.35 mm2, the designed module effectively combines the miniaturization, broadband, and linear electrical behavior of RF-MEMS, making it a suitable candidate for the MIMO antennas of the current and future telecommunications scenario.

Nesta dissertação, os principais conceitos de MEMS, suas aplicações, processos de fabricação, componentes e sistemas são abordados. O objetivo desta dissertação é o estudo detalhado de chaves MEMS para aplicações em RF, que apresentam bom comportamento em altas freqüências e com potencial de melhoria em sua banda de operação. Em particular, aprofundou-se o estudo para o caso de uma chave MEMS de membrana capacitiva paralela sobre um guia de onda coplanar ou CPW - Coplanar Waveguide. O objetivo foi o de ampliar sua banda de operação, mantendo-se outras especificações inalteradas. Partindo-se de uma chave com banda de operação nula para critérios de perda de retorno e isolação mínimas iguais a 20 dB, com alteração na geometria da chave foi possível obter-se uma banda de 28 GHz e posteriormente ampliá-la para 31 GHz, praticamente sem alteração nas demais características elétricas. / In this thesis, the main concepts of MEMS, their application, fabrication processes, components and systems are addressed. The objective of the thesis is a detailed study of MEMS switches for RF applications, that present good performance at high frequencies and with a potential for bandwidth improvement. More specifically, the study was deeply conducted for shunt capacitive membrane MEMS switches over CPW - Coplanar Waveguide. In this case, the objective was to enlarge the operation bandwidth, keeping the other specifications unchanged. Starting with a switch with null operational bandwidth for criteria of minimum return loss and isolation of 20 dB, after a modification in the switch geometry, it was possible to obtain an operational bandwidth of 28 GHz and then to enlarge it to 31 GHz, keeping almost unchanged the other electric characteristics.

Nesta dissertação, os principais conceitos de MEMS, suas aplicações, processos de fabricação, componentes e sistemas são abordados. O objetivo desta dissertação é o estudo detalhado de chaves MEMS para aplicações em RF, que apresentam bom comportamento em altas freqüências e com potencial de melhoria em sua banda de operação. Em particular, aprofundou-se o estudo para o caso de uma chave MEMS de membrana capacitiva paralela sobre um guia de onda coplanar ou CPW - Coplanar Waveguide. O objetivo foi o de ampliar sua banda de operação, mantendo-se outras especificações inalteradas. Partindo-se de uma chave com banda de operação nula para critérios de perda de retorno e isolação mínimas iguais a 20 dB, com alteração na geometria da chave foi possível obter-se uma banda de 28 GHz e posteriormente ampliá-la para 31 GHz, praticamente sem alteração nas demais características elétricas. / In this thesis, the main concepts of MEMS, their application, fabrication processes, components and systems are addressed. The objective of the thesis is a detailed study of MEMS switches for RF applications, that present good performance at high frequencies and with a potential for bandwidth improvement. More specifically, the study was deeply conducted for shunt capacitive membrane MEMS switches over CPW - Coplanar Waveguide. In this case, the objective was to enlarge the operation bandwidth, keeping the other specifications unchanged. Starting with a switch with null operational bandwidth for criteria of minimum return loss and isolation of 20 dB, after a modification in the switch geometry, it was possible to obtain an operational bandwidth of 28 GHz and then to enlarge it to 31 GHz, keeping almost unchanged the other electric characteristics.

Els serveis de telecomunicacions i sistemes radar estan migrant a freqüències mil•limètriques (MMW), on es disposa d 'una major amplada de banda i conseqüentment d'una major velocitat de transmissió de dades. Aquesta migració requereix de l'ús de diferents tecnologies amb capacitat d'operar a la banda de freqüències mil•limètriques (30 a 300 Ghz), i més concretament en les bandes Ka (26,5 - 40GHz), V (50 – 75GHz) i W (75 – 110GHz). En moltes aplicacions i sobretot en aquelles on l'antena forma part d'un dispositiu mòbil, es cerca poder utilitzar antenes planes, caracteritzades per tenir unes dimensions reduïdes i un baix cost de fabricació. El conjunt de requeriments es pot resumir en obtenir una antena amb capacitat de reconfigurabilitat i amb un baix nivell de pèrdues en cada una de les bandes de freqüència. Per tal d'afrontar aquests reptes, les dimensions de les antenes mil•limètriques, juntament amb els tipus de materials, toleràncies de fabricació i la capacitat de reconfigurabilitat ens porten a l'ús de processos de microfabricació. L'objectiu d'aquesta tesis doctoral és l'anàlisi dels conceptes mencionats, tipus de materials, geometries de línia de transmissió i interruptors, en el context de les freqüències mil•limètriques, així com la seva aplicació final en dissenys d'antenes compatibles amb els processos de microfabricació. Finalment, com a demostració s'han presentat dissenys específics utilitzables en tres aplicacions a freqüències mil•limètriques: Sistemes de Comunicació per Satèl•lit (SCS) a la banda Ka, Xarxes d'àrea personal inalàmbriques (WPAN) a la banda V i sistemes radar per l'automoció a la banda W. La primera part d'aquesta tesis consisteix en l'anàlisi d'algunes tecnologies circuitals a freqüències mil•limètriques. S'han presentat els materials més utilitzats a altes freqüències (Polytetrafluoroethylene or Teflon (PTFE), Quartz, Benzocyclobuten polymer (BCB) i Low Temperature Co-fired Ceramic (LTCC)) i s'han comparat en termes de permitivitat i tangent de pèrdues. També s'inclou un estudi de pèrdues a altes freqüències en les principals línies de transmissió (microstrip, stripline i CPW). Finalment, es presenta un resum dels interruptors RF-MEMS i es comparen amb els PIN diodes i els FET. En la segona part, es presenten diferents agrupacions d'antenes amb la capacitat de reconfigurar la polarització i la direcció d'apuntament. S'han dissenyat dos elements base reconfigurables en polarització: CPW Patch antena i 4-Qdime antena. La primera antena consisteix en un element singular amb interruptors RF-MEMS, dissenyada per operar a les bandes Ka i V. La segona antena consisteix en una arquitectura composta on la reconfigurabilitat en polarització s'obté mitjançant variant la fase d'alimentació de cada un dels quatre elements lineals. La fase és controlada mitjançant interruptors RF-MEMS ubicats en la xarxa de distribució. L'antena 4-Qdime s'ha dissenyat per operar en les bandes V i W. Ambdós elements base s'han utilitzat posteriorment pel disseny de dues agrupacions d'antenes amb capacitat de reconfigurar l'apuntament del feix principal. La reconfigurabilitat es dur a terme utilitzant desfasadors de fase d'1 bit. La part final de la tesis es centra en les toleràncies de fabricació i en els processo de microfabricació d'agrupacions d'antenes mil•limètriques. Les toleràncies de fabricació s'han estudiat en funció dels error d'amplitud i fase en cada element de l'agrupació, fixant-se en les pèrdues de guany, error d'apuntament, error en l'amplada de feix, errors en el nivell de lòbul secundari i en l'error en la relació axial. El procés de microfabricació de les diferents antenes dissenyades es presenta en detall. Els dissenys de l'antena CPW Patch reconfigurable en polarització i apuntament operant a les bandes Ka i V, s'han fabricat en la sala blanca del Cornell NanoScale Science & Technology Facility (CNF). Posteriorment, s'han caracteritzat l'aïllament i el temps de resposta dels interruptors RF-MEMS, i finalment, el coeficient de reflexió, el diagrama de radiació i la relació axial s'han mesurat a les bandes Ka i V per les antenes configurades en polarització lineal (LP) i circular (CP). / Telecommunication services and radar systems are migrating to Millimeter-wave (MMW) frequencies, where wider bandwidths are available. Such migration requires the use of different technologies with the capability to operate at the MMW frequency band (30 to 300GHz), and more specifically at Ka- (26.5 to 40GHz), V- (50 to 75GHz) and W-band (75 to 110GHz). For many applications and more concretely those where the antenna is part of a mobile device, it is targeted the use of planar antennas for their low profile and low fabrication cost. A wide variety of requirements is translated into a reconfiguration capability and low losses within each application frequency bandwidth. To deal with the mentioned challenges, the MMW antenna dimensions, together with the materials, fabrication tolerances and reconfigurability capability lead to microfabrication processes. The aim of this thesis is the analysis of the mentioned concepts, materials, transmission lines geometries and switches in the MMW frequencies context and their final application in antenna designs compatible with microfabrication. Finally, specific designs are presented as a demonstration for three MMW applications: Satellite Communication Systems (SCS) at Ka-band, Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN) at V-band and Automotive Radar at W-band. The first part of this thesis consist to analyze some MMW circuit technologies. The four most used materials at MMW frequencies (Polytetrafluoroethylene or Teflon (PTFE), Quartz, Benzocyclobuten polymer (BCB) and Low Temperature Co-fired Ceramic (LTCC)) have been presented and compared in terms of permittivity (εr) and loss tangent (tanδ). An study of the main transmission lines attenuation (microstrip, stripline and CPW) at high frequencies is included. Finally, an overview of the RF-MEMS switches is presented in comparison with PIN diodes and FETS switches. The second part presents different polarization and beam pointing reconfigurable array antennas. Two polarization-reconfigurable base-elements have been designed: CPW Patch antenna and 4-Qdime antenna. The first consists of a single reconfigurable element with integrated RF-MEMS switches, designed to operate at Ka- and V-band. The second antenna presented in this thesis has a composed architecture where the polarization reconfigurability is obtained by switching the phase feeding for each of the four linear polarized elements in the feed network with RF-MEMS switches. The 4-Qdime antenna has been designed to operate at V- and W-band. The two base-elements have been used to design two beam pointing reconfigurable antenna arrays. Using phased array techniques, beamsteering is computed and implemented with 1-bit discrete phase-shifter. The final part of the thesis is focused into the fabrication tolerances and microfabrication process of Millimeter-wave antenna arrays. The fabrication tolerances have been studied as a function of the amplitude and phase errors presented at each elements array, focusing on the gain loss, beam pointing error, Half-Power Beamwidth (HPBW) error, sidelobe level error and axial ratio error. The microfabrication process for the designed antennas is presented in detail. Polarization- and pointing- reconfigurable CPW Patch antenna operating at Ka- and V- band have been fabricated in a clean-room facility at Cornell NanoScale Science & Technology Facility (CNF). The RF-MEMS switches isolation and time response have been characterized. Finally, the reflection coefficient, radiation pattern and axial ratio have been measured at Ka- and V-band for the fabricated antennas configured in Linear Polarization (LP) and Circular Polarization (CP).

The focus of this work involves optical and RF (radio frequency) applications of novel microactuation and self-assembly techniques in MEMS (Microelectromechanical systems). The scaling of physical forces into the micro domain is favorably used to design several types of actuators that can provide large forces and large static displacements at low operation voltages. A self-assembly method based on thermally induced localized plastic deformation of microstructures has been developed to obtain truly three-dimensional structures from a planar fabrication process. RF applications include variable discrete components such as capacitors and inductors as well as tunable coupling circuits. Optical applications include scanning micromirrors with large scan angles (>90 degrees), low operation voltages (<10 Volts), and multiple degrees of freedom. One and two-dimensional periodic structures with variable periods and orientations (with respect to an incident wave) are investigated as well, and analyzed using optical phased array concepts. Throughout the research, permanent tuning via plastic deformation and power-off latching techniques are used in order to demonstrate that the optical and RF devices can exhibit zero quiescent power consumption once their geometry is set.

The focus of this work involves optical and RF (radio frequency) applications of novel microactuation and self-assembly techniques in MEMS (Microelectromechanical systems). The scaling of physical forces into the micro domain is favorably used to design several types of actuators that can provide large forces and large static displacements at low operation voltages. A self-assembly method based on thermally induced localized plastic deformation of microstructures has been developed to obtain truly three-dimensional structures from a planar fabrication process. RF applications include variable discrete components such as capacitors and inductors as well as tunable coupling circuits. Optical applications include scanning micromirrors with large scan angles (>90 degrees), low operation voltages (<10 Volts), and multiple degrees of freedom. One and two-dimensional periodic structures with variable periods and orientations (with respect to an incident wave) are investigated as well, and analyzed using optical phased array concepts. Throughout the research, permanent tuning via plastic deformation and power-off latching techniques are used in order to demonstrate that the optical and RF devices can exhibit zero quiescent power consumption once their geometry is set.

This dissertation deals with the development of RF MEMS switches with novel materials and micromachining techniques for the RF and microwave applications. To enable the integration of RF and microwave components on CMOS grade silicon, finite ground coplanar waveguide transmission line on CMOS grade silicon wafer were first studied using micromachining techniques. In addition, several RF MEMS capacitive switches were developed with novel materials. A novel approach for fabricating low cost capacitive RF MEMS switches using directly photo-definable high dielectric constant metal oxides was developed, these switches exhibited significantly higher isolation and load capacitances as compared to comparable switches fabricated using a simple silicon nitride dielectric. The second RF MEMS switch developed is on a low cost, flexible liquid crystal polymer (LCP) substrate. Its very low water absorption (0.04%), low dielectric loss and multi-layer circuit capability make it very appealing for RF Systems-On-a-Package (SOP). Also, a tunable RF MEMS switch on a sapphire substrate with BST as dielectric material was developed, the BST has a very high dielectric constant (>300) making it very appealing for RF MEMS capacitive switches. The tunable dielectric constant of BST provides a possibility of making linearly tunable MEMS capacitor-switches. For the first time a capacitive tunable RF MEMS switch with a BST dielectric and its characterization and properties up to 40 GHz was presented. Dielectric charging is the main reliability issue for MEMS switch, temperature study of dielectric polarization effect of RF MEMS was investigated in this dissertation. Finally, integration of two reconfigurable RF circuits with RF MEMS switches were discussed, the first one is a reconfigurable dual frequency (14GHz and 35 GHz) antenna with double polarization using RF MEMS switches on a multi-layer LCP substrate; and the second one is a center frequency and bandwidth tunable filter with BST capacitors and RF MEMS switches on sapphire substrate.

This thesis presents the design and fabrication of coplanar waveguide to microstrip transitions and planar spiral inductors, and the design of metal-insulator-metal capacitors, a planar band-pass, and a low-pass filter structures as an application for the inductors and capacitors using the RF MEMS technology. This thesis also includes a packaging method for RF MEMS devices with the use of benzocyclobutene as bonding material. The transition structures are formed by four different methods between coplanar waveguide end and microstrip end, and they are analyzed in 1-20 GHz. Very low loss transitions are obtained by maintaining constant characteristic impedance which is the same as the port impedance through the transition structures. The planar inductors are formed by square microstrip spirals on a glass substrate. Using the self-inductance propery of a conductive strip and the mutual inductance between two conductor strips in a proper arrangement, the inductance value of each structure is defined. Inductors from 0.7 nH up to 20 nH have been designed and fabricated. The metal-insulator-metal capacitors are formed by two coplanar waveguide structures. In the intersection, one end of a coplanar waveguide is placed on top of the end of the other coplanar waveguide with a dielectric layer in between. Using the theory of parallel plate capacitors, the capacitance of each structure is adjusted by the dimensions of the coplanar waveguides, which obviously adjust the area of intersection. Capacitors from 0.3 pF up to 9.8 pF have been designed. A low-pass filter and a band-pass filter are designed using the capacitors and inductors developed in this thesis. In addition to lumped elements, the interconnecting transmission lines, junctions and input-output lines are added to filter topologies. The RF MEMS packaging is realized on a coplanar waveguide structure which stands on a silicon wafer and encapsulated by a silicon wafer. The capping chip stands on the BCB outer ring which promotes adhesion and provides semi hermeticity. Keywords: Transition between transmission lines, planar spiral inductor, metal-insulator-metal capacitor, RF MEMS packaging, surface micromachining.

This thesis presents distributed MEMS transmission line (DMTL) phase shifters, emphasizing the circuit modeling and design as well as the performance improvement. A novel modeling methodology is introduced for DMTL unit sections, with bridge widths larger than 50 &amp / #956 / m. The introduced model is compared with EM simulation results and the CLR modeling results. For structures with bridge widths larger than 50 &amp / #956 / m, the introduced model fits the simulation results much better than the CLR model. The simulated structures are fabricated in METU micro-electronics facilities on glass substrates using gold structural layers. 1-20 GHz S-parameter measurement results of various DMTL structures are compared with the introduced model. It is observed that the S-parameters match except for a scaling need in the insertion loss. The measurement results give 2 dB insertion and 15 dB isolation at 20 GHz. The ABCD parameters of the introduced model are converted into S-parameters. Loss and the phase shift of the DMTL structures are expressed in terms of these S-parameters. These expressions are re-written as MATLAB code, from which the phase shift/loss (degree/dB) performance is evaluated. Therefore degree/dB plots with respect to bridge widths and center CPW conductor widths are obtained. From these plots the optimum DMTL phase shifters, which give maximum phase shift for minimum loss are determined for a pre-defined DMTL structure. To increase the degree/dB performance of a DMTL phase shifter, a change in the geometry of the DMTL phase shifters is proposed. The geometry change is based on inserting an open-ended stub through the signal line and connecting one side of the stub to the bridge. By this way, the stub capacitance is added to the shunt capacitance of the bridge satisfying a larger phase shift. The simulations point out a performance of 217 degree/dB at 20 GHz with a 15 % change in the 25 &amp / #956 / m wide bridge height ratio.