Microelectromechanical Systems (Mems) for Radio Frequency Applications

150 p.Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2002.The work in this thesis focuses on the development of two of the most fundamental on-chip RF passive devices (tunable capacitors and inductors) using micromachining technology. First, a new wide-tuning-range tunable capacitor design is proposed and prototype devices are fabricated using surface micromachining technology. This new tunable capacitor has the advantages of simple configuration, IC-compatible fabrication process, low loss, and wide tuning range. Second, a novel three-dimensional (3-D) microstructure assembly technique, Plastic Deformation Magnetic Assembly (PDMA), is developed, which is compatible with the standard IC fabrication process and capable of addressing batch-scale assembly with high yield and good controllability. Using PDMA, on-chip vertical spiral inductors are demonstrated. Vertical spiral inductors have almost zero footprints and have much higher quality factors and self-resonance frequencies than their horizontal counterparts due to reduced substrate loss and parasitics. On-chip solenoid inductors with different windings are also demonstrated using PDMA.U of I OnlyRestricted to the U of I community idenfinitely during batch ingest of legacy ETD