Printed Circuit Board

Embedded Thin Film Resistors

Applications and Implementation in MEMs and
RF Devices
By
Bruce Mahler
Vice President
Ohmega Technologies, Inc.

IMS 2017 olulu,niIMS 2017 Honolulu, Hawaii June 7, 2017

 Thin Film Embedded Resistor Technology
• 1. Electrodeposited NiP thin film resistive material
• 2. Standard subtractive PWB processing
• 3. Surface or embedded resistors
• 4. Mature technology (40+ years)
• 5. Field Proven, Excellent Long Term Reliability

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 Why use Embedded Resistors?
• Density improvement—free up board area or reduce board
size with elimination of discrete resistors
• Improved reliability with reduction in solder joints
• Elimination of parasitic inductance in power dividers
• Critical signal measurements to meet fast rise times and
reduce signal delay
• Placement of a termination resistor very close to the drive
line
• Very small element sizes with subtractive PCB print/etch
• EMI improvement and improved fidelity in conjunction with
a planar capacitor as an RC filter in MEMs microphone
modules
• Embedded or integral heaters at board level

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Thin Film Resistive Material Manufacturing

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 NiP Sheet Resistivity Offerings

Sheet Material
Resistivity Tolerance Typical Applications
(Ω/□) (%)
Series termination, impedance
10 3
matching, planar heaters
25 5
Series/parallel termination
40 5
resistors, power dividers, filters
50 5
100 5 Pull-up/pull-down resistors
250 10 High ohmic applications

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 Basic Design Overview
• Sheet resistivity, stated in Ohms per square is dimensionless
• A square area of resistive material equals the sheet resistivity of material

Ω
• 25 ohms per square (■) sheet resistance
• Resistor value = sheet resistivity X ratio of element length to width
𝐿 𝐿
• 𝑅 = 𝑅𝑠 × 𝑊 ; where 𝑊 = 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑠 𝑁
• For example:
• Sheet resistivity (Rs) = 25 Ω/□
• Length = 0.030” (30 mils)
• Width = 0.015” (15 mil)
Ω 30 𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑠
• 𝑅 = 25 × ∎
∎ 15 𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑠
• 𝑅 = 50Ω

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Sheet Resistivity (Rs) Adjustments for PTFE Substrates
• Lamination of NiP to PTFE substrates results in a
one time shift in nominal sheet resistivity:
• 25 ohm per square → 28 ohm per square
• 50 ohm per square → 60 ohm per square
• 100 ohm per square → 140 ohm per square
• For designs requiring a PTFE substrate, the
modified sheet resistivity should be used when
calculating resistor footprints.

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 Ohms Per Square
• Pull-up/down and termination resistors military/aerospace board

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 Ohms Per Square
• Sample Circuit 50 ohm per square on Duroid 6202PR

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PCB Processing of NiP Resistive Conductive Material
• Step 1: Apply Photoresist to Laminate

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PCB Processing of NiP Resistive Conductive Material
• Step 2: Print and Develop Composite Image

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PCB Processing of NiP Resistive Conductive Material
• Step 3: Etch Unwanted Copper Using Any
Conventional Etchant (1st etch)

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PCB Processing of NiP Resistive Conductive Material
• Step 4: Etch Unwanted Resistive Material with
Copper Sulfate Solution (2nd etching process)

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PCB Processing of NiP Resistive Conductive Material
• Step 5: Strip Photoresist

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PCB Processing of NiP Resistive Conductive Material
• Step 6: Apply Photoresist, Print and Develop
Conductor Protect Image (2nd print)

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PCB Processing of NiP Resistive Conductive Material
• Step 7: Etch Away Copper Over the Designed
Resistor Using a Selective Alkaline Etchant (3rd etch)

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PCB Processing of NiP Resistive Conductive Material
• Step 8: Strip Photoresist

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 Two Print Artwork PCB Processing
Artwork layout
• NiP resistor processing consists of two prints:
• 1st print – COMPOSITE image of conductors and resistors
• 2nd print – RESISTOR DEFINE image of resistor elements

Composite (negative film) resistor define commonly used for

voltage or ground plane with most of the copper preserved.

COPPER
PAD

Composite (negative film) conductor protect commonly used

for signal plane

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 NiP Resistive Material in RF Applications
• Provides greater packaging densities
• Eliminates resistor assembly
• Eliminates solder joints
• Weight savings
• Reduction in parasitic inductances and
capacitances
• Excellent stability beyond 70 GHz
• Low profile copper for low insertion loss

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NiP Resistive Material in RF Applications

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 Performance Benefit of NiP Planer Resistor
• Reduction in parasitic capacitance and inductance
compared to surface mount components.
• Reduce metal-to-metal transitions associated with chip
resistors
• Reduce vias on critical nets

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NiP Resistors in Microwave Applications

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 NiP Resistors in Microwave Applications

0.026” x 0.0145

Enlargement of a four-up array 16-way power divider with 50 /sq NiP resistors

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 NiP Resistor Designs in Space Applications

NiP resistors in microwave application for Layer stack up.

Globalstar antenna.

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Globalstar Antenna – NiP Resistor Inner Layer

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NiP Resistor Designs in Military/Aerospace Applications

Active Phased Array Antenna

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 NiP Resistive Material in R-Cards and Absorbers
• Can be laminated to a variety of substrate materials
with different permittivities
• Create repetitive, planar patterns using standard
photolithography techniques (subtractive
print/etch)
• Cost reduction
• Weight savings (reduced thicknesses)
• Increased bandwidth and improved performance
covering wider angles of incidence

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NiP Resistors in RF Electromagnetic Absorbers and R-cards

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NiP Resistors in RF Electromagnetic Absorbers and R-cards

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 NiP Resistive Conductive Material in Sensors
• Increased PCB density (small element sizes)
• Reduced PCB thickness (eliminate SMT-R)
• Reduced assembly (resistor built into PCB)
• Improved Reliability (elimination of solder joints)
• Improved electrical performance (reduced EMI)
• Cost savings (replacement of discrete SMT-R)

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NiP Resistors in MEMs Microphone Sensor

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NiP Resistors in MEMs Microphone Sensor

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 NiP Resistors in MEMs Microphone Sensor
2.5”
Consumer Electronics

3.5”

MEMs Microphones

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 NiP Resistor Reliability
• Researchers at Alcatel Bell tested NiP resistors for broadband (45 MHz-5 GHz)
telecom applications to compare the reliability of NiP resistors to 0805 discrete
thick film chip resistors rated at 125mW. The NiP resistors were as good as, or
better than, the chip resistor in all performed tests.
Measured ΔR Thick Film Chip
Type of Test Ohmega Specifications
(Alcatel Tested) (0805)
After 21 days:
• 0.22% for 25 Ohm/sq.
Humidity Test • 0.07% for 100 Ohm/sq.
After 10 days:
• 0.10% for 250 Ohm/sq. After 56 days:
Temp: 40°C • 0.5% for 25 Ohm/sq.
After 56 days: ≤ ± 1.5%
RH: 93% • 1.0% for 100 Ohm/sq.
• 0.74% for 25 Ohm/sq.
• 0.14% for 100 Ohm/sq.
• 0.22% for 250 Ohm/sq.

Thermal Cycling After 100 Cycles

After 25 Cyles
• - 0.03 % for 25 Ohm/sq.
High: 125°C • - 0.5% for 25 Ohm/sq. ≤ ± 25%
• 0.03 % for 100 Ohm/sq.
Low: -25°C • 1% for 100 Ohm/sq.
• - 0.08 % for 250 Ohm/sq.
After 100 Hrs.
Unbiased Aging • 0.10% for 25 Ohm/sq.
• 0.08% for 100 Ohm/sq.
Not specified Not specified
125°C
• - 0.13% for 250 Ohm/sq.
Solder Float • - 0.02% for 25 Ohm/sq.
• 0.5% for 25 Ohm/sq.
260°C • 0.01% for 100 Ohm/sq. ≤ ± 25%
• 1% for 100 Ohm/sq.
20 seconds • - 0.01% for 250 Ohm/sq.

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 NiP Resistor Reliability
• Dassault Electronique (Thales) did a 2 year study of NiP resistors for an active phased array
antenna (X-band). The resistors were constructed on Rogers RT Duroid® 6002 substrate and
fusion bonded inside a multilayer package. The NiP resistors were selected over printed polymer
ink and chip resistors.
Method Result
Etching Tolerance (%) 5
Minimum Resistor Width (um) 200
Tolerance After Fusion Bonding (%) 7
Influence of NiP Layer on Microwave
Negligible
Properties
Thermal Cycle (% ΔR) • Microstrip 2%
• -55°C to 125°C, 500 cycles • Stripline 3%
Thermal Coefficient of Resistance (% ΔR) • Microstrip +/- 2%
• -55°C to 125°C • Stripline +/- 3%
Power (mW) 300
2-Port Power Divider Environmental
Stress Test (% ΔR)
• Thermal Cycle: -55°C to 125°C, 500 cycles Negligible
• High Temperature Storage: 125°C, 500 hours
• Static Humidity: 40°C, 95% RH, 40 days
• Salt Spray: 48 hours
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 NiP Resistor Reliability
• NiP for lead-free assembly. Highly Accelerated Thermal
Shock Test (HATS)
• -40°C to 145°C
• 1000 cycles
• 10.85 minutes per cycle

Resistor Network % ΔR
15 Coupons per Resistor network
1 0.20
2 0.15
3 0.20
4 0.17

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 NiP Resistor Reliability
• Stability over long term continuous operation

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 NiP Resistor Reliability
• Application shows a heater used to bring the X-Ray Spectrometer (XRS)
biasing and pre-amplification electronics to -50 degrees Celsius in the
Mars Beagle 2 Lander.

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 Summary
• NiP thin film resistive material used extensively in
RF and MEMs designs
• Improved package densities
• Improved electrical performance
• Improved reliability
• Standard subtractive PCB processing
• Growing applications in IC packaging, IOT sensor
technologies, 5G and DDR4 memory devices

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 OHMEGA TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
4031 ELENDA STREET

CULVER CITY, CA 90232-3799

PHONE: (310)559-4400

FAX: (310)837-5268

WEB SITE: http://www.ohmega.com

Copyright  2017 Ohmega Technologies, Inc.

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