Integrated RF front end system

• US 9,048,284 B2
• Filed: 06/28/2012
• Issued: 06/02/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 06/28/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Skyworks Solutions Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Skyworks Solutions Incorporated
• Inventors: McPartlin, Michael Joseph, Doherty, Mark M.
• Primary Examiner(s): NGUYEN, TUAN HOANG
• Application Number:
  US13/536,749
• Publication Number:
  US 20140002187A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,069 Days
• Field of Search: 455/280, 455/311, 455/333, 455/550.1, 257/379, 257/565, 257/607, 257/656, 257/E29.109, 257/E29.174, 361/718, 361/719, 361/748, 361/760, 361/764, 438/309
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/76 Making of isolation regions between components
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/761 PN junctions
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2223/665 Bias feed arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2223/6655 Matching arrangements, e.g. arrangement of inductive and capacitive components
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2223/6677 for antenna, e.g. antenna included within housing of semiconductor device
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2224/0603 Bonding areas having different sizes, e.g. different heights or widths
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2224/48137 the bodies being arranged next to each other, e.g. on a common substrate
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2224/48247 connecting the wire to a bond pad of the item
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2224/48257 connecting the wire to a die pad of the item
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2224/48465 the other connecting portion not on the bonding area being a wedge bond, i.e. ball-to-wedge, regular stitch
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2224/48471 the other connecting portion not on the bonding area being a ball bond, i.e. wedge-to-ball, reverse stitch
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2224/49111 the connectors connecting two common bonding areas, e.g. Litz or braid wires
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2224/49113 the connectors connecting different bonding areas on the semiconductor or solid-state body to a common bonding area outside the body, e.g. converging wires
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2224/49171 Fan-out arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2224/73265 Layer and wire connectors
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 23/66 High-frequency adaptations
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 27/067 Lateral bipolar transistor in combination with diodes, or capacitors, or resistors
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 27/0823 including vertical bipolar transistors only
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 29/0603 characterised by particular constructional design considerations, e.g. for preventing surface leakage, for controlling electric field concentration or for internal isolations regions isolation regions between components H01L21/76; design considerations for integrated circuits H01L27/00; geometrical design considerations for devices H01L29/0657
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 29/0646 PN junctions
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 29/0821 : Collector regions of bipolar transistors
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 29/0826 : Pedestal collectors
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 29/165 : in different semiconductor regions , e.g. heterojunctions
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 29/66242 : Heterojunction transistors [HBT] with an active layer made of a group 13/15 material H01L29/66318
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 29/737 : Hetero-junction transistors
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 29/7371 : Vertical transistors
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 29/7378 : comprising lattice mismatched active layers, e.g. SiGe strained layer transistors
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/00 : Indexing scheme for arrangements or methods for connecting or disconnecting semiconductor or solid-state bodies as covered by H01L24/00
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/00012 : Relevant to the scope of the group, the symbol of which is combined with the symbol of this group
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/181 : Encapsulation
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/1815 : Shape
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 1/24 : with receiving set
• CPC Class Codes: H03F 2200/222 : A circuit being added at the input of an amplifier to adapt the input impedance of the amplifier
• CPC Class Codes: H03F 2200/294 : the amplifier being a low noise amplifier [LNA]
• CPC Class Codes: H03F 2200/318 : A matching circuit being used as coupling element between two amplifying stages
• CPC Class Codes: H03F 2200/387 : A circuit being added at the output of an amplifier to adapt the output impedance of the amplifier
• CPC Class Codes: H03F 2200/411 : the output amplifying stage of an amplifier comprising two power stages
• CPC Class Codes: H03F 2200/451 : the amplifier being a radio frequency amplifier
• CPC Class Codes: H03F 3/195 : in integrated circuits
• CPC Class Codes: H03F 3/245 : with semiconductor devices only

Abstract

Systems and methods are disclosed for integrating functional components of front-end modules for wireless radios. Front-end modules disclosed may be dual-band front-end modules for use in 802.11ac-compliant devices. In certain embodiments, integration of front-end module components on a single die is achieved by implementing a high-resistivity layer or substrate directly underneath, adjacent to, and/or supporting SiGe BiCMOS technology elements.

Claims

1. An integrated front-end module comprising:

a silicon substrate having a high-resistivity portion;

a bipolar transistor featuring a silicon or silicon-germanium alloy base disposed on the substrate above the high-resistivity portion;

one or more passive devices disposed on the substrate above the high-resistivity portion; and

a low-resistivity well located between the bipolar transistor and the one or more passive devices, the low-resistivity well providing at least partial electrical isolation between the bipolar transistor and the one or more passive devices.

2. The front-end module of claim 1 further comprising a switch disposed on the substrate.

3. The front-end module of claim 2 wherein the switch is an SP4T switch.

4. The front-end module of claim 2 wherein the switch is an SP5T switch.

5. The front-end module of claim 2 further comprising a low-noise amplifier module.

6. The front-end module of claim 5 wherein the low-noise amplifier module includes a low-noise amplifier bypass switch.

7. The frond-end module of claim 1 wherein the transistor is part of a power amplifier module.

8. The front-end module of claim 7 wherein the power amplifier module includes a first power amplifier device configured to amplify RF signals in a first frequency band and a second power amplifier device configured to amplify RF signals in a second frequency band separate from the first frequency band.

9. The front-end module of claim 8 wherein 2.4 GHz is included in the first frequency band, and 5 GHz is included in the second frequency band.

10. The front-end module of claim 8 wherein the first power amplifier device is configured to amplify RF signals in accordance with IEEE 802.11b/g specifications and the second power amplifier device is configured to amplify RF signals in accordance with IEEE 802.11a/ac specifications.

11. The front-end module of claim 8 wherein the first power amplifier device is a two-stage power amplifier and the second power amplifier device is a three-stage power amplifier.

12. The front-end module of claim 7 wherein the power amplifier module includes a multi-stage power amplifier.

13. The front-end module of claim 7 further comprising at least one passive device disposed above the substrate.

14. The front-end module of claim 7 further comprising a power detector module at least partially coupled to the power amplifier module.

15. The front-end module of claim 1 wherein the high-resistivity portion has a resistivity value greater than 500 Ohm*cm.

16. The front-end module of claim 15 wherein the high-resistivity portion has a resistivity of approximately 1 kOhm*cm.

17. A method of fabricating an integrated front-end module comprising:

providing at least a portion of a high-resistivity bulk silicon substrate;

forming one or more transistors on the high-resistivity substrate;

forming one or more electrical devices on the high-resistivity substrate; and

implanting a low-resistivity well between the one or more transistors and the one or more electrical devices, the low-resistivity well providing at least partial electrical isolation between the one or more transistors and the one or more electrical devices.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein the low-resistivity well is implanted around the one or more transistors.

19. A semiconductor die comprising:

a silicon substrate including a high-resistivity portion and being configured to receive a plurality of components;

RF front-end circuitry disposed on the substrate, the RF front-end circuitry including a bipolar transistor featuring a silicon or silicon-germanium alloy base disposed above the high-resistivity portion, the RF front-end circuitry further including one or more passive or active devices disposed above the high-resistivity portion; and

a low-resistivity well located between the bipolar transistor and the one or more passive or active devices, the low-resistivity well providing at least partial electrical isolation between the bipolar transistor and the one or more passive or active devices.

20. The semiconductor die of claim 19 wherein the RF front-end circuitry is configured to process wireless signals in compliance with the IEEE 802.11ac wireless communication standard.

21. The semiconductor die of claim 20 wherein the RF front-end circuitry includes a passive filter.

22. A radio-frequency (RF) module comprising:

a packaging substrate configured to receive a plurality of components;

a die mounted on the packaging substrate, the die having a high-resistivity substrate portion, a switch, a power amplifier including an SiGe bipolar transistor disposed above the high-resistivity substrate portion, one or more passive devices above the high-resistivity portion, and a low-resistivity well located between the SiGe bipolar transistor and the one or more passive devices, the low-resistivity well providing at least partial electrical isolation between the bipolar transistor and the one or more passive devices; and

a plurality of connectors configured to provide electrical connections between the die and the packaging substrate.

23. The RF module of claim 22 wherein the packaging substrate has an area of less than 3.0 mm².

24. The RF module of claim 23 further comprising a height, the height being less than 0.5 mm.

25. A radio-frequency (RF) device comprising:

a baseband circuit assembly configured to process RF signals;

RF front-end circuitry disposed on a substrate having a high-resistivity portion, the RF front-end circuitry including a switch, one or more passive devices disposed above the high-resistivity portion, a power amplifier including a bipolar transistor featuring a silicon or silicon-germanium alloy base disposed above the high-resistivity portion, and a low-resistivity well located between the bipolar transistor and the one or more passive devices, the low-resistivity well providing at least partial electrical isolation between the bipolar transistor and the one or more passive devices; and

an antenna in communication with at least a portion of the RF front-end circuitry to facilitate transmission and reception of the RF signals.