Method of fabricating radio frequency microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) devices on low-temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) substrates
First Claim
1. A method of forming a radio frequency (“
- RF”
) device including at least one MEMS device comprising the steps of;
fabricating a first module from a first plurality of low-temperature co-fired ceramic (“
LTCC”
) layers, the first plurality of layers forming at least a first circuit used in the operation of the MEMS device;
fabricating a second module from a second plurality of low-temperature co-fired ceramic (“
LTCC”
) layers, the second plurality of layers forming at least a second circuit used in the operation of the MEMS device;
polishing a surface of a front layer of the first module to be used as a substrate after fabrication of the first module is completed;
fabricating on the front layer the at least one MEMS device using MEMS processing; and
bonding the first and second modules together to thereby form a cavity containing the at least one MEMS device.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A phased-array antenna system and other types of radio frequency (RF) devices and systems using microelectromechanical switches (“MEMS”) and low-temperature co-fired ceramic (“LTCC”) technology and a method of fabricating such phased-array antenna system and other types of radio frequency (RF) devices are disclosed. Each antenna or other type of device includes at least two multilayer ceramic modules and a MEMS device fabricated on one of the modules. Once fabrication of the MEMS device is completed, the two ceramic modules are bonded together, hermetically sealing the MEMS device, as well as allowing electrical connections between all device layers. The bottom ceramic module has also cavities at the backside for mounting integrated circuits. The internal layers are formed using conducting, resistive and high-k dielectric pastes available in standard LTCC fabrication and low-loss dielectric LTCC tape materials.
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Citations
97 Claims
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1. A method of forming a radio frequency (“
- RF”
) device including at least one MEMS device comprising the steps of;fabricating a first module from a first plurality of low-temperature co-fired ceramic (“
LTCC”
) layers, the first plurality of layers forming at least a first circuit used in the operation of the MEMS device;fabricating a second module from a second plurality of low-temperature co-fired ceramic (“
LTCC”
) layers, the second plurality of layers forming at least a second circuit used in the operation of the MEMS device;polishing a surface of a front layer of the first module to be used as a substrate after fabrication of the first module is completed; fabricating on the front layer the at least one MEMS device using MEMS processing; and bonding the first and second modules together to thereby form a cavity containing the at least one MEMS device. - 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)
- RF”
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29. A method of forming an electrical device comprising the steps of:
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fabricating a first module from a first plurality of low-temperature co-fired ceramic (“
LTCC”
) layers, the first plurality of layers forming at least a first circuit used in the operation of the electrical device;fabricating a second module from a second plurality of low-temperature co-fired ceramic (“
LTCC”
) layers, the second plurality of layers forming at least a second circuit used in the operation of the electrical device;polishing a surface of a front layer of the first module to be used as a substrate after fabrication of the first module is completed; fabricating on the front layer at least one microelectromechanical device (“
MEMS”
) using standard MEMS processing; andbonding the first and second modules together to thereby form a cavity containing the at least one MEMS device. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43)
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44. A method of forming a radiating element for an array antenna comprising the steps of:
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fabricating a first module from a first plurality of low-temperature co-fired ceramic (“
LTCC”
) layers, the first plurality of layers forming at least a first circuit used in the operation of the array antenna;fabricating a second module from a second plurality of low-temperature co-fired ceramic (“
LTCC”
) layers, the second plurality of layers forming at least a second circuit used in the operation of the array antenna;polishing a surface of a front layer of the first module to be used as a substrate after fabrication of the first module is completed; fabricating on the front layer at least one microelectromechanical switch (“
MEMS”
) using MEMS processing; andbonding the first and second modules together to thereby form a cavity containing the at least one MEMS switch. - View Dependent Claims (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)
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82. A method of forming an array antenna comprising the steps of:
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fabricating a plurality of radiating elements, each of the radiating elements being fabricated by forming at least one microelectromechanical (“
MEMS”
) switch on a first low-temperature co-fired ceramic (“
LTCC”
) module, and bonding a second LTCC module to the first LTCC module, whereby the MEMS switch is located in a cavity between the first and second LTCC modules;forming a plurality of sub-array modules, each of the sub-array modules being formed from a plurality of radiating elements; integrating the plurality of sub-array modules together to form the phased array antenna; and connecting the plurality of sub-array modules to at least one amplifier.
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83. A method of forming an electrical device comprising the steps of:
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fabricating a first module from a first plurality of low-temperature co-fired ceramic (“
LTCC”
) layers, the first plurality of layers forming at least a first circuit used in the operation of the electrical device;fabricating a second module from a second plurality of low-temperature co-fired ceramic (“
LTCC”
) layers, the second plurality of layers forming at least a second circuit used in the operation of the electrical device;polishing a surface of a front layer of the first module to be used as a substrate after fabrication of the first module is completed; fabricating on the front layer at least one microelectromechanical device (“
MEMS”
) using standard MEMS processing; andbonding the first and second modules together to thereby form a cavity containing the at least one MEMS device. - View Dependent Claims (84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97)
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Specification