Development of K-Band Front-End Devices for Broadband Wireless Communication Systems Using Millimeter-Wave Flip-Chip IC Technology

Kazuaki TAKAHASHI  Suguru FUJITA  Hiroyuki YABUKI  Takayuki YOSHIDA  Yoshito IKEDA  Hiroyuki SAKAI  Morikazu SAGAWA  

Publication
IEICE TRANSACTIONS on Electronics   Vol.E81-C   No.6   pp.827-833
Publication Date: 1998/06/25
Online ISSN: 
DOI: 
Print ISSN: 0916-8516
Type of Manuscript: Special Section PAPER (Special Issue on Microwave and Millimeter-Wave Module Technology)
Category: Functional Modules and the Design Technology
Keyword: 
flip-chip,  micro bump bonding,  millimeter-wave,  HFET,  HBT,  

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Summary: 
This paper describes new millimeter-wave ICs based on flip-chip bonding using micro bumps on a low cost silicon substrate, named millimeter-wave flip-chip ICs (MFICs). They have significant advantages such as good performance, low cost and excellent flexibility in the active device selection which makes them superior to conventional monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs). In order to demonstrate these advantages, a K-band front-end block for a broadband wireless communication equipment was designed and fabricated. This front-end block consists of four MFIC chips: a low noise amplifier (LNA), a down converter and two medium power amplifiers. These chips are designed to satisfy stable operation conditions using a simplified model derived for micro bump bonding (MBB). In experimental measurements; the LNA using heterojunction field-effect transistors (HFETs) had an 18 dB gain, the down converter using an HFET had a 9. 5 dB conversion loss, and two power amplifiers using heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) had saturated powers of 13. 0 dBm and 11. 7 dBm, respectively. The performance for each of the developed ICs agreed with the designed values, and satisfied circuit requirements. These results show that the MFIC technique is a potential technology for manufacturing multi-functional millimeter-wave ICs.