COUPLER TO LAUNCH ELECTROMAGNETIC SIGNAL FROM MICROSTRIP TO DIELECTRIC WAVEGUIDE

• US 20160072173A1
• Filed: 11/12/2015
• Published: 03/10/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 03/19/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Texas Instruments, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Texas Instruments, Inc.
• Inventors: Herbsommer, Juan Alejandro, Payne, Robert Floyd, Schuppener, Gerd, Haroun, Baher
• Granted Patent: US 9,515,367 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/4416 Heterogeneous cables
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2223/6677 for antenna, e.g. antenna included within housing of semiconductor device
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2224/16227 the bump connector connecting to a bond pad of the item
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2224/73204 the bump connector being embedded into the layer connector
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/15192 Resurf arrangement of the internal vias
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/15311 being a ball array, e.g. BGA
• CPC Class Codes: H01P 11/001 Manufacturing waveguides or transmission lines of the waveguide type
• CPC Class Codes: H01P 11/002 Manufacturing hollow waveguides
• CPC Class Codes: H01P 3/121 integrated in a substrate
• CPC Class Codes: H01P 3/16 Dielectric waveguides, i.e. without a longitudinal conductor
• CPC Class Codes: H01P 3/165 Non-radiating dielectric waveguides
• CPC Class Codes: H01P 5/00 Coupling devices of the waveguide type
• CPC Class Codes: H01P 5/087 Transitions to a dielectric waveguide
• CPC Class Codes: H01P 5/107 Hollow-waveguide/strip-line transitions
• CPC Class Codes: H01P 5/184 the guides being strip lines or microstrips
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 1/2283 mounted in or on the surface of a semiconductor substrate as a chip-type antenna or integrated with other components into an IC package
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 1/50 Structural association of antennas with earthing switches, lead-in devices or lightning protectors
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 13/02 Waveguide horns
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 19/108 Combination of a dipole with a plane reflecting surface H01Q19/106 takes precedence; strip line H01Q9/065
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 19/30 the primary active element being centre-fed and substantially straight, e.g. Yagi antenna
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 9/065 : Microstrip dipole antennas patch antenna H01Q9/0407
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/40 : Circuits
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49016 : Antenna or wave energy "plumbing" making
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49826 : Assembling or joining

Abstract

A metallic waveguide is mounted on a multilayer substrate. The metallic waveguide has an open end formed by a top, bottom and sides configured to receive a core member of a dielectric waveguide, and an opposite tapered end formed by declining the top of the metallic waveguide past the bottom of the metallic waveguide and down to contact the multilayer substrate. A pinnacle of the tapered end is coupled to the ground plane element, and the bottom side of the metallic waveguide is in contact with the multiplayer substrate and coupled to the microstrip line.

Claims

1. A process of operating an electronic device comprising:

generating a sub-terahertz signal in an integrated circuit within the electronic device;

transporting the sub-terahertz signal to a tapered metallic waveguide located on a multilayer substrate of the electronic device; and

radiating a portion of the sub-terahertz signal from the tapered metallic waveguide into a dielectric waveguide.

2. The process of claim 1 in which the transporting includes transporting the sub-terahertz signal on a microstrip line formed in one of the layers of the multilayer substrate parallel to a ground plane element that is located in another one of the layers of the multilayer substrate.

3. The process of claim 2, in which the radiating includes radiating the sub-terahertz signal into a metallic waveguide that has an open end formed by a top, bottom and sides configured to receive a core member of a dielectric waveguide, and an opposite tapered end formed by declining the top of the metallic waveguide past the bottom of the metallic waveguide and down to contact the multilayer substrate, in which a pinnacle of the tapered end is coupled to the ground plane element, and in which the bottom side of the metallic waveguide is in contact with the multiplayer substrate and coupled to the microstrip line.

4. The process of claim 3 including linearly increasing the width of the microstrip line from a point proximate where a pinnacle of the tapered metallic waveguide is coupled to a ground plane to a width approximately equal to a width of the metallic waveguide at point where the microstrip line is coupled to the metallic waveguide.

5. A dielectric waveguide comprising:

a dielectric core member, in which the core member has a first dielectric constant value;

a cladding surrounding the dielectric core member, the cladding having a second dielectric constant value that is lower than the first dielectric constant; and

at a first mating end of the dielectric waveguide, a dielectric core extension extends past the cladding for a first distance, and then tapers down to an edge over a second distance, such that when inserted into a tapered metallic waveguide the interior of metallic waveguide is essentially completely filled by dielectric core extension.