The doctoral dissertations of the former Helsinki University of Technology (TKK) and Aalto University Schools of Technology (CHEM, ELEC, ENG, SCI) published in electronic format are available in the electronic publications archive of Aalto University - Aaltodoc.
Aalto

MEMS Tuning and Matching Circuits, and Millimeter Wave On-Wafer Measurements

Tauno Vähä-Heikkilä

Dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Science in Technology to be presented with due permission of the Department of Electrical and Communications Engineering for public examination and debate in Auditorium S4 at Helsinki University of Technology (Espoo, Finland) on the 27th of March, 2006, at 12 o'clock noon.

Overview in PDF format (ISBN 951-38-6705-6)   [2392 KB]
VTT Publications 596, ISSN 1455-0849

Dissertation is also available in print (ISBN 951-38-6704-8)
Copyright © 2006 VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland
VTT Publications 596, ISSN 1235-0621
VTT-PUBS-596
TKK-DISS-2117

Abstract

The focus of this thesis is on the development of on-wafer measurement techniques for millimeter wave device and circuit characterization as well as on the development of MEMS based impedance tuning circuits both for measurement and telecommunication applications. Work done in this thesis is presented with eight scientific articles written by the author. The summary of the thesis introduces the field of on-wafer measurements and impedance tuning methods, and is followed by the articles.

Wide-band on-wafer measurement systems have been developed for noise parameter measurement at room temperature at W-band, and for cryogenic S-parameter measurements at 50–110 GHz and 20–295 K. Using the developed systems, noise parameters of an InP HEMT have been measured and results are shown in the frequency band of 79–94 GHz. These are the first published noise parameter measurement results for an active device at W-band, and first on-wafer measurement results at cryogenic conditions and at 50–110 GHz.

Novel RF MEMS impedance tuners have been developed for instrumentation and measurement applications to improve measurement automation and accuracy in on-wafer measurements. Several integrated impedance tuners have been realized to cover 6–120 GHz frequency range. RF MEMS technology has also been used for reconfigurable matching networks. Reconfigurable distributed 4–18 GHz and 30–50 GHz matching networks have been designed, fabricated, and characterized. These are based on switched 4 or 8 MEMS capacitors producing 16 or 256 different impedances. The matching networks are ideal for multi-band and wide impedance range amplifier as well as for antenna matching and tuning applications. Both the tuners and matching networks have shown state-of-the-art performance for circuits realized with integrated circuit technologies.

This thesis consists of an overview and of the following 8 publications:

  1. T. Vähä-Heikkilä, M. Lahdes, M. Kantanen, and J. Tuovinen. On-wafer noise-parameter measurements at W-band. IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques, vol. 51, no. 6, pp. 1621-1628, 2003. © 2003 IEEE. By permission.
  2. T. Vähä-Heikkilä, J. Varis, H. Hakojärvi, and J. Tuovinen. Wideband cryogenic on-wafer measurements at 20–295 K and 50–110 GHz. Proceedings of the 33rd European Microwave Conference, Munich, Germany, October 2003, pp. 1167-1170. © 2003 European Microwave Association. By permission.
  3. T. Vähä-Heikkilä, K. Van Caekenberghe, J. Varis, J. Tuovinen, and G. M. Rebeiz. RF MEMS impedance tuners for 6–24 GHz applications. International Journal of RF and Microwave Computer-Aided Engineering, accepted for publication, February 2006. © 2006 John Wiley & Sons. By permission.
  4. T. Vähä-Heikkilä, J. Varis, J. Tuovinen, and G. M. Rebeiz. A 20–50 GHz RF MEMS single-stub impedance tuner. IEEE Microwave and Wireless Components Letters, vol. 15, no. 4, pp. 205-207, 2005. © 2005 IEEE. By permission.
  5. T. Vähä-Heikkilä, J. Varis, J. Tuovinen, and G. M. Rebeiz. A V-band single-stub RF MEMS impedance tuner. Proceedings of the 34th European Microwave Conference, Amsterdam, Netherlands, October 2004, pp. 1301-1304. © 2004 European Microwave Association. By permission.
  6. T. Vähä-Heikkilä, J. Varis, J. Tuovinen, and G. M. Rebeiz. W-band RF MEMS double and triple-stub impedance tuners. 2005 IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium Digest, Long Beach, CA, USA, June 2005, pp. 923-926. © 2005 IEEE. By permission.
  7. T. Vähä-Heikkilä and G. M. Rebeiz. A 4–18-GHz reconfigurable RF MEMS matching network for power amplifier applications. International Journal of RF and Microwave Computer-Aided Engineering, vol. 14, no. 4, pp. 356-372, 2004. © 2004 John Wiley & Sons. By permission.
  8. T. Vähä-Heikkilä and G. M. Rebeiz. A 20–50 GHz reconfigurable matching network for power amplifier applications. 2004 IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium Digest, Fort Worth, TX, USA, June 2004, pp. 717-721. © 2004 IEEE. By permission.

Keywords: RF MEMS, on-wafer measuring techniques, millimeter wave devices, impedance tuning, instrumentation, noise parameter measurements, reconfigurable matching networks, W-band measurement, double-stub tuners, triple-stub tuners, amplifier applications

This publication is copyrighted. You may download, display and print it for Your own personal use. Commercial use is prohibited.

© 2006 Helsinki University of Technology

Last update 2011-05-26