William Paul Kornrumpf

Design and Development of a Package Using LCP for RF/Microwave MEMS Switches

We present the development of an ultrahigh moisture-resistant enclosure for RF microelectromechanical system (MEMS) switches using liquid-crystal polymer (LCP). A cavity formed in LCP has been laminated, at low temperature, onto a silicon MEMS switch to create a package. The LCP-cap package has an insertion loss of less than 0.2 dB at X-band. E595 outgas tests demonstrate that the LCP material is suitable for constructing reliable packages without interfering with the operation of the MEMS switch. The package also passes Method 1014, MIL-STD-883 gross leak, and fine leak hermeticity tests

High-density cable and method therefor

A high-density cable of a type suitable for transmitting ultrasound signals from an ultrasonic probe to multiplexing circuitry during a medical ultrasound procedure is provided. The cable includes one or more flexible circuits arranged within a flexible sheath that surrounds and confines the flexible circuits. Each flexible circuit includes an elongate flexible substrate with oppositely-disposed surfaces and multiple conductors on at least one of these surfaces. The opposing longitudinal ends of the substrate define integral connectors for connecting with respective output connectors and/or electronic devices, such as an ultrasonic probe or multiplexing circuitry.

Multilayer Organic Multichip Module Implementing Hybrid Microelectromechanical Systems

We present the design and development of an organic package that is compatible with fully released RF microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). The multilayer organic package consists of a liquid-crystal polymer film to provide near hermetic cavities for MEMS. The stack is further built up using organic thin-film polyimide. To demonstrate the organic package, we have designed and implemented a 2-bit true-time delay X-band phase shifter using commercially available microelectromechanical switches. The packaged phase shifter has a measured insertion loss of 2.45 plusmn 0.12 dB/bit at 10 GHz. The worst case phase variation of the phase shifter at 10 GHz is measured to less than 5deg. We have also conducted temperature cycling (-65degC to 150degC) and 85/85 to qualify the packaging structures.

Development of Multilayer Organic Modules for Hermetic Packaging of RF MEMS Circuits

We present the design and development of a multilayer organic module that can integrate microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) into a system-in-a-package (SiP). A cavity formed in liquid crystal polymer (LCP) has been laminated, at low temperature, onto a MEMS silicon switch to create a hermetically sealed package. Multilayer organic dielectrics can be integrated on top of LCP films to form a 3D SiP module. The entire SiP hermetically sealed package has a total insertion loss of ~0.1 dB at X-band. The package also passes Method 1014, MIL-STD-883 gross leak and fine leak hermeticity tests. We have demonstrated a 2-bit RF MEMS TTD (true-time delay) switched line phase shifter in this multilayer organic module. The phase shifter achieves an average insertion loss of 1.8 dB/bit, with less than 3deg phase shift variation

A compact beamforming matrix module for use in multibeam communication satellites

A 16/spl times/4 beamformer has been designed, fabricated and tested. It provides 6 bits of phase shift and 8 bits of attenuation in 64 paths in a single multichip module (MCM) for use in multibeam antenna systems. It can be operated with 16 beams and 4 radiating elements or 4 beams and 16 radiating elements. The MCM is fabricated using the Lockheed Martin/GE high-density interconnect (HDI) technology to interconnect 16 multifunction MMICs and digital control circuits. The HDI technology is used to fabricate 42 Wilkinson dividers with greater than 40% bandwidth on the same layers as the stripline interconnects. The resulting beam former matrix module (BFMM) is approximately 63/spl times/41/spl times/1.3 mm (3.5 cm/sup 3/) and weighs 7 grams.

RF MEMS PACKAGING FOR SPACE APPLICATIONS

The Lockheed Martin/GE High Density Interconnect (HDI) packaging technology has been applied to packaging RF MEMS components for space applications. In previous work, HDI has been used to fabricate multi-chip modules (MCMs) for a wide range of applications from RF (70 MHz) to mm wave (94GHz) using GaAs MMICs and Si control circuits by embedding the active components in a polymeric structure. This packaging technology is an alternative to the use of LTCC and HTCC ceramic based MCMs. The GaAs MMICs used in these modules are fabricated with fragile air-bridges that require protection from physical damage and intrusion of dielectric materials. For this reason, an air-capping process has been developed that places an air pocket over the critical elements of each MMIC within the HDI MCM thereby protecting the fragile airbridge structures from physical damage. This same technique has now been used to provide an air pocket over the critical moving elements of RF MEMS devices. This packaging technology can be used to produce MCMs that contain MEMS and MMIC devices as well as Si control ICs.

Development of a Hermetically Sealed Enclosure for MEMS in Chip-on-Flex Modules Using Liquid Crystalline Polymer (LCP)

We present the development of a hermetic shield packaging enclosure for RF microelectromechanical system switches (MEMS) using Liquid Crystal Polymer (LCP). A cavity formed in LCP has been laminated, at low temperature, onto a Si MEMS switch to create a hermetically sealed package. The hermetically sealed enclosure is a stack-up layer of the multi-layer organic chip-on-flex system-on-a-package (SOP). The entire SOP hermetically sealed package has a total insertion loss of ∼0.5 dB at X-band. E595 outgas tests demonstrate that the LCP package is reliable and hermetically protects the MEMS switch.Copyright

High-density multimode photonic backplane

The development of a photonic backplane for high-speed and high-bandwidth communications is presented. This hybrid, multimode, multi-channel backplane structure contains both electrical and optical interconnects, suitable for next-generation high-speed servers with terabit backplane capacity. Removable and all-passively aligned high density interconnects on this backplane are achieved by polymer based optical waveguides with integrated micro-optics and VCSEL arrays on conventional printed circuit boards. The fabrication of this photonic backplane requires few additional steps outside a traditional board-manufacturing environment and is largely compatible with existing processes.