Ceramic antenna module and methods of manufacture thereof
First Claim
1. An antenna module, comprising:
- a composite dielectric body including at least one ceramic dielectric inclusion composed of at least one material selected from the group consisting of materials having a relative dielectric permittivity ≧
10 and materials having a relative dielectric permeability ≠
1, the at least one ceramic dielectric inclusion embedded in a dielectric host material selected from the group consisting of amorphous silica, titania, tantalates, pure alumina, admixtures thereof, and an organic media such that the composite dielectric body has an effective permittivity ≧
4;
a metallization layer adjacent the composite dielectric body and including a ground plane and at least one contact pad; and
at least one electrically conductive element disposed parallel to the metallization layer and electrically connected with the at least one contact pad, each conductive element disposed relative to the composite dielectric body such that the conductive element is resonant over a band of frequencies and has a length that is ≦
50% of the length that would be required to maintain the same resonance without the composite dielectric body.
0 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Circuit modules and methods of construction thereof that contain composite meta-material dielectric bodies that have high effective values of real permittivity but which minimize reflective losses, through the use of host dielectric (organic or ceramic), materials having relative permittivities substantially less than ceramic dielectric inclusions embedded therein. The composite meta-material bodies permit reductions in physical lengths of electrically conducting elements such as antenna element(s) without adversely impacting radiation efficiency. The meta-material structure may additionally provide frequency band filtering functions that would normally be provided by other components typically found in an RF front-end.
-
Citations
232 Claims
-
1. An antenna module, comprising:
-
a composite dielectric body including at least one ceramic dielectric inclusion composed of at least one material selected from the group consisting of materials having a relative dielectric permittivity ≧
10 and materials having a relative dielectric permeability ≠
1, the at least one ceramic dielectric inclusion embedded in a dielectric host material selected from the group consisting of amorphous silica, titania, tantalates, pure alumina, admixtures thereof, and an organic media such that the composite dielectric body has an effective permittivity ≧
4;
a metallization layer adjacent the composite dielectric body and including a ground plane and at least one contact pad; and
at least one electrically conductive element disposed parallel to the metallization layer and electrically connected with the at least one contact pad, each conductive element disposed relative to the composite dielectric body such that the conductive element is resonant over a band of frequencies and has a length that is ≦
50% of the length that would be required to maintain the same resonance without the composite dielectric body. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 185, 186, 187, 188, 189, 190, 191, 192, 193, 212, 213, 214, 215)
-
-
96. An antenna module connectable to at least one semiconductor die, comprising:
-
an antenna dielectric body having a first surface and a second surface;
at least one electrically conductive element disposed at the first surface of the antenna dielectric body;
a ground plane structure comprising;
a composite dielectric body having a first surface and a second surface and including at least one ceramic dielectric inclusion composed of at least one material selected from the group consisting of materials having a relative dielectric permittivity ≧
10 and materials having a relative dielectric permeability ≠
1, the at least one ceramic dielectric inclusion embedded in a dielectric host material selected from the group consisting of amorphous silica and pure alumina, and admixtures thereof, and an organic media such that the composite dielectric body has an effective permittivity ≧
4;
a metallization layer disposed at the first surface of the composite dielectric body, the metallization layer including an electrical ground plane and at least one contact pad, wherein each contact pad is electrically connected to an associated one of the at least one electrically conductive elements through at least one via in the composite dielectric body and in the antenna dielectric body and is electrically connectable to a semiconductor die; and
a periodic array of capacitor pads disposed at the second surface of the composite dielectric body, the capacitor pads being electrically shorted through the composite dielectric body, the array having a uniform periodicity and a spacing between the capacitor pads such that a reflected E field component of an electromagnetic wave incident upon the ground plane structure and having a frequency within a bandgap range of frequencies will experience an induced phase shift that produces a condition of constructive interference between the reflected E field component and E-field components emanating from the at least one electrically conductive element that substantially share the same directional propagation vectors as the reflected E field component. - View Dependent Claims (97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115)
-
-
116. A circuit module including a low-loss electrical interconnect structure for connecting at least one semiconductor die to an associated at least one microelectronic component, comprising:
-
at least one microelectronic component;
a metallization layer including an electrical ground plane and at least one contact pad, each of the at least one contact pads being electrically connected to an associated microelectronic component;
a base dielectric layer adjacent the metallization layer and having at least one via to accommodate the electrical connection between the at least one contact pad and at least one microelectronic component, the at least one microelectronic component disposed at a surface of the base dielectric layer opposite the metallization layer;
a composite ceramic dielectric body comprised of at least two layers of host dielectric material having a relative dielectric permittivity ≦
4.5, the composite ceramic dielectric body having a first surface and a second surface;
at least one transmission line embedded within the composite ceramic dielectric body;
a first conductive connector means electrically connecting one of the contact pads to an associated one of the at least one transmission lines through the first surface of the composite ceramic dielectric body;
an interconnect metallization layer disposed at the second surface of the composite dielectric body and including a ground plane and a second conductive connector means through which a semiconductor die can be electrically connected to the associated one of the at least one transmission lines. - View Dependent Claims (117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 194, 195, 196, 197, 198, 199, 200, 201, 202)
-
-
141. A circuit module including a low-loss electrical interconnect structure for connecting at least one semiconductor die to an associated at least one microelectronic component, comprising:
-
at least one microelectronic component;
a metallization layer including an electrical ground plane and at least one contact pad, each of the at least one contact pads being electrically connected to an associated microelectronic component;
a base dielectric layer adjacent the metallization layer and having at least one via to accommodate the electrical connection between the at least one contact pad and at least one microelectronic component, the at least one microelectronic component disposed at a surface of the base dielectric layer opposite the metallization layer;
a composite ceramic dielectric body comprised of at least two layers of host dielectric material having a loss tangent ≦
3×
10−
3, the composite ceramic dielectric body having a first surface and a second surface;
at least one transmission line embedded within the composite ceramic dielectric body;
a first conductive connector means electrically connecting one of the contact pads to an associated one of the at least one transmission lines through the first surface of the composite ceramic dielectric body;
an interconnect metallization layer disposed at the second surface of the composite dielectric body and including a ground plane and a second conductive connector means through which a semiconductor die can be electrically connected to the associated one of the at least one transmission lines. - View Dependent Claims (142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150, 151, 152, 153, 154, 155, 156, 157, 158, 159, 160, 161, 162, 163, 164, 165)
-
-
166. A circuit module, comprising:
-
a composite dielectric body including at least one ceramic dielectric inclusion embedded in a dielectric body composed of a host material having a relative dielectric permittivity ≦
4.5;
a metallization layer adjacent the composite dielectric body and including a ground plane and at least one contact pad; and
at least one electrically conductive element disposed parallel to the metallization layer and in contact with the at least one contact pad. - View Dependent Claims (203, 204, 205, 206, 207, 208, 209, 210, 211)
-
-
167. A circuit module, comprising:
-
a composite dielectric body including a host material having a loss tangent that is ≦
3×
10−
3, and at least one dielectric inclusion embedded in the host material such that the composite dielectric body has an effective relative permittivity ≧
4;
a metallization layer adjacent the composite dielectric body and including a ground plane and at least one contact pad; and
at least one electrically conductive element disposed parallel to the metallization layer and in contact with the at least one contact pad.
-
-
168. A meta-material dielectric body, comprising:
a composite dielectric body including a host material having a loss tangent that is ≦
3×
10−
3, and at least one dielectric inclusion embedded in the host material such that the composite dielectric body has an effective relative permittivity ≧
4.- View Dependent Claims (169, 170, 171, 172, 173, 174, 175, 176, 177, 178, 179, 180, 181, 182, 183, 184)
-
216. A method of constructing an antenna module, comprising the steps of:
-
forming a metallization layer including a ground plane and at least one contact pad;
forming a composite dielectric body adjacent the metallization layer by embedding at least one ceramic dielectric inclusion composed of at least one material selected from the group consisting of materials having a relative dielectric permittivity ≧
10 and materials having a relative dielectric permeability ≠
1 into a dielectric host material selected from the group consisting of amorphous silica, titania, tantalates, pure alumina, admixtures thereof, and an organic media, such that the composite dielectric body has an effective permittivity ≧
4; and
electrically connecting at least one electrically conductive element to the at least one contact pad at least partially through the composite dielectric body, and disposing the at least one electrically conductive element parallel to the metallization layer and oriented relative to the composite dielectric body such that the at least one electrically conductive element is resonant over a band of frequencies and has a length that is ≦
50% of the length that would be required to maintain the same resonance without the composite dielectric body. - View Dependent Claims (217, 218, 219, 220, 221, 222, 223, 224)
-
-
225. A method of constructing an antenna module connectable to at least one semiconductor die, comprising the steps of:
-
forming an antenna dielectric body having a first surface and a second surface, and at least one electrically conductive element;
constructing a ground plane structure through the steps of;
forming a composite dielectric body having a first surface and a second surface by embedding at least one ceramic dielectric inclusion composed of at least one material selected from the group consisting of materials having a relative dielectric permittivity ≧
10 and materials having a relative dielectric permeability ≠
1 into a dielectric host material selected from the group consisting of amorphous silica and pure alumina, and admixtures thereof, and an organic media, such that the composite dielectric body has an effective permittivity ≧
4;
forming a metallization layer at the first surface of the composite dielectric body, the metallization layer including an electrical ground plane and at least one contact pad, wherein each contact pad is electrically connected to an associated one of the at least one electrically conductive elements through at least one via in the composite dielectric body and in the antenna dielectric body and is electrically connectable to a semiconductor die; and
constructing a periodic array of capacitor pads disposed at the second surface of the composite dielectric body, the capacitor pads being electrically shorted through the composite dielectric body, the array having a uniform periodicity and a spacing between the capacitor pads such that a reflected E field component of an electromagnetic wave incident upon the ground plane structure and having a frequency within a bandgap range of frequencies will experience an induced phase shift that produces a condition of constructive interference between the reflected E field component and E-field components emanating from the at least one electrically conductive element that substantially share the same directional propagation vectors as the reflected E field component. - View Dependent Claims (226)
-
-
227. A method of constructing a circuit module including a low-loss electrical interconnect structure for connecting at least one semiconductor die to an associated at least one microelectronic component, comprising the steps of:
-
providing at least one microelectronic component;
forming a metallization layer including an electrical ground plane and at least one contact pad, and electrically connecting each of the at least one contact pads to an associated one of the at least one microelectronic components;
forming a base dielectric layer adjacent the metallization layer having at least one via to accommodate the electrical connection between the at least one contact pad and at least one microelectronic component, the at least one microelectronic component disposed at a surface of the base dielectric layer opposite the metallization layer;
forming a composite ceramic dielectric body comprised of at least two layers of host dielectric material having a relative dielectric permittivity ≦
4.5, the composite ceramic dielectric body having a first surface and a second surface;
embedding at least one transmission line within the composite ceramic dielectric body;
electrically connecting via a first conductive connector one of the contact pads to an associated one of the at least one transmission lines through the first surface of the composite ceramic dielectric body;
forming an interconnect metallization layer at the second surface of the composite dielectric body including a ground plane and a second conductive connector means through which a semiconductor die can be electrically connected to the associated one of the at least one transmission lines. - View Dependent Claims (228, 229, 230)
-
-
231. A method of constructing a circuit module including a low-loss electrical interconnect structure for connecting at least one semiconductor die to an associated at least one microelectronic component, comprising the steps of:
-
providing at least one microelectronic component;
forming a metallization layer including an electrical ground plane and at least one contact pad, and electrically connecting each of the at least one contact pads to an associated one of the at least one microelectronic components;
forming a base dielectric layer adjacent the metallization layer having at least one via to accommodate the electrical connection between the at least one contact pad and at least one microelectronic component, the at least one microelectronic component disposed at a surface of the base dielectric layer opposite the metallization layer;
forming a composite ceramic dielectric body comprised of at least two layers of host dielectric material having a loss tangent ≦
3×
10−
3, the composite ceramic dielectric body having a first surface and a second surface;
embedding at least one transmission line within the composite ceramic dielectric body;
electrically connecting via a first conductive connector one of the contact pads to an associated one of the at least one transmission lines through the first surface of the composite ceramic dielectric body;
forming an interconnect metallization layer at the second surface of the composite dielectric body including a ground plane and a second conductive connector means through which a semiconductor die can be electrically connected to the associated one of the at least one transmission lines.
-
-
232. A method of forming a meta-material dielectric body, comprising the step of embedding in a host material having a loss tangent that is ≦
- 3×
10−
3 at least one dielectric inclusion so as to obtain a composite dielectric body having an effective relative permittivity ≧
4.
- 3×
Specification