Paraffin-Based RF Microsystems for

Millimeter Wave Reconfigurable

Antennas
Behnam Ghassemiparvin and Nima Ghalichechian

ElectroScience Lab
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
The Ohio State University

ghassemiparvin.1@osu.edu
https://microsystems.osu.edu

IEEE AP-S/URSI Symposium, Atlanta, GA

July 9, 2019
1
 Introduction

•
• Paraffin PCM capacitors are a new class of
 RF-microsystems: Electrical
Mechanical
Liquid-solid
phase change
– Electro-thermally actuated with a low input ~ 15%
6 Low viscosity
voltage
Chemical
– Low loss Inert
Corrosive
– Continuously tunable resistant
Adjustable
– Monolithically integrated hydrocarbon
chain
• Paraffin’s key features:
– Low dielectric loss; at 110 GHz
– Mechanical phase change material with
thermal volumetric expansion of 15%

SiO2 membrane Top plate

C36H74
Volumetric change of paraffin vs. temperature
Heater
Substrate
Cross-section view of the paraffin PCM device

2
 Motivation

Integrated heater
Top plate
SiO2 membrane

n
(a) affi
(a) Par

Substrate
Heater
(b)
(b)

Low loss mmW continuously variable capacitors (a) Reconfigurable slot antenna with integrated paraffin PCM
(a) with no actuation and (b) actuated. capacitors (b) detailed view of actuator
VonMises
Temp (K) Stress (Pa)

Distributed loaded-line phase shifter

3
 Challenges of mmW Reconfigurable Systems

Reconfigurable Systems

V0 Vmax

1 2

GaAs Schottky Liquid

PIN diode Diode RF MEMS Crystal BST Paraffin PCM

− Discrete + Continuous − Discrete + Continuous + Continuous +Continuous + Continuous

+ Low
− High , − High + Low , 0.15–0.5 Ω −High −High –0.001
2–6 Ω 4–10 Ω 0.003–0.015 0.03–0.12
+ Low , <0.7Ω
Low
++ High
High isolation,
isolation, ++ High
High capacitance
capacitance ++ High
High
Low
capacitance −Low ratio: moderate −−Low
Low capacitance
capacitance
> 30 dB ratio: 2–3 Isolation capacitance 1.3–1.5 ratio: 1.8 ratio: 1.15–1.2
> 30 dB ratio: 2–3 Isolation ratio:
ratio: 1.15–1.2
1.15–1.2 ratio: 1.15–1.2

++ Low
Low bias
bias −−High
High bias
bias voltage:
voltage: −−High
High actuation
actuation voltage:
voltage: −−High ++ Low
Low Actuation
Actuation
voltage: High bias
bias voltage:0–40
voltage:0–40 V
V
voltage: 2–3
2–3 VV 10–30 V
10–30 V 10–40 V
10–40 V voltage < 5V
voltage < 5V

++ Fast: ++ Fast: Moderate:

Slow:
Slow: 30–400
30–400 ++ Fast:
Fast: 10–100 −−Slow:
Fast: 1–100
1–100 ns
ns Fast: 1–100
1–100 ns
ns Moderate: 10–100
10–100 µs
µs ms
ms ns
10–100
Slow: 5–17
5–17 ms
ms
ns

• Reconfiguring element at mmW frequencies has high series resistance or loss

tangent resulting in efficiency less than 50%.
4
 Paraffin PCM Capacitor

Δh
 

,s , s

C var
L
R

𝐿=8.98
  pH
5
 Outline
• Introduction
• 100 GHz Reconfigurable Antenna
• W-band Loaded-Line Phase Shifter
• Fabrication
• Measurement
• Summary

6
 Reconfigurable Slot Antenna

• Frequency reconfigurable
•  antenna design is achieved by Bridge

loading the microstrip slot

Paraffin PCM Capacitor
antenna with paraffin PCM
capacitors.
• Slot antenna has a length of at
its operation frequency
• Capacitors are located away 𝐶 1
𝐶 2
from the shorted ends of the
antenna to obtain maximum Reconfigurable slot antenna

reconfiguration.

Radiation pattern 7
 Simulation Results
  Paraffin,
,
4 GHz
Δh
 

HFSS

C1 C2 Return loss for various displacement

  Quartz Substrate ,
Δ𝐶=15.5 %
 
Δ𝐶=14.6 %
 
Antenna
C1 C2

R1 R2 R = 0.4–0.6 Ω
COMSOL
ADS

Capacitance change and deflections vs. bias voltage

3-port model of the antenna and lumped capacitors 8

 Simulation Results

Power
2%
10%
Quartz
20% Paraffin
Conductor
Radiation
68%

9
 Multiphysics Simulation
SiO2 membrane Top plate

Model consists of 92,000 mesh elements

Heater
with 422,000 degrees of freedom.
Substrate

Joule Heating 𝐶 𝑝 (𝑇 )
 
Heat Energy
Electric
Electric Heat Transfer 𝜌(𝑇 ) 𝜌(𝑇 ) 𝐶 𝑝 (𝑇 )
Currents
Currents
Temperature Heat Transfer      
2600

Heat Capacity (J/kg K)

900
𝐾 (𝑇 )

Density (Kg/m 3 )
Phase change
  2400
y
ci t
e
ur

elo

800 2200
at

,V
er
mp

re

2000
su
Te

Non-Isothermal Flow 700

es

1800
Pr

𝜌(𝑇 ) 300 350 400 450 500 300 350 400 450

Laminar Flow   Temperature (K) Temperature (K)

Laminar Flow 𝐾 (𝑇 ) 𝜇(𝑇 )

𝜇(𝑇 )    
Thermal Conductivity (W/m K)

  3
Pressure, Velocity

0.2

Viscosity (mPa s)
0.18
Fluid Structure Interaction 2
0.16

0.14 1
0.12
300 320 340 360 380 400 420 300 320 340 360 380 400 420
Temperature (K) Temperature (K)
Solid
Solid
Mechanics
Mechanics 10
 Dynamic Displacement and Stress

Stress and Max Displacement

Input Voltage
Displacement

5.7 ms
1.7 ms

With input voltage of 1.8 V:

• Rise time = 5.7 ms
• Fall time = 1.7 ms
• Actuation energy = 1.1 mJ
• Maximum Displacement = 1.22 µm
• Maximum temperature of paraffin = 375 K > phase change temperature (348 K)
11
 Stationary Simulation Results
1.4 Avg Paraffin Temperature
V = 1.2V
400
V = 1.4V
1.2 V = 1.45V 375
V = 1.5V
350

K
V = 1.55V
1 V = 1.6V 325
Displacement ( m)

V = 1.8V
300
V = 2V
0.8 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2
Avg Paraffin Pressure
1000
0.6
750

Pa
0.4 500
250
0.2 0
0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2
0 Max Center Displacement
0 50 100 150 200 250 2
Arc length ( m) 1.5

m
1
0.5
0
0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2
8 Max Von Mises Stress
10
4
3
Pa

2
1
0
0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2
Input Voltage (V)

12
 Outline
• Introduction
• 100 GHz Reconfigurable Antenna
• W-band Loaded-Line Phase Shifter
• Fabrication
• Measurement Results
• Summary

13
 Distributed Loaded-Line Phase Shifter

• Phase shifter is designed by loading

the CPW transmission line with
paraffin PCM variable capacitors.
• Design is optimized for capacitance
ratio of 15% which is limited by the
volumetric change of paraffin.
• Phase shift with high resolution can
be achieved since capacitors can be
continuously tuned through electro-
thermal actuation.

Paraffin PCM capacitors. Electro-thermo-mechanical

actuation.

14
 Circuit Model
  Paraffin,
,

12 Bridges
Unactuated

  Quartz Substrate, Actuated

,s , s , s , s

50  C var C var C var 50 

L L
... L
R R R

15
 360° Phase Shifter
,s , s
 • 148 PCM capacitors are required for 360° phase shift.
C var
• Total length of the phase shifter: 18 mm
L
• Circuit simulation parameters:
R

Unit cell of the phase shifter

91.1°

182.0°
0°

271.0°

360° 360.0°

IL @100 GHz: -5.06 dB

Reflection Coefficient Insertion Loss Phase Shift

This Work RF MEMS LC GaAs Diode

FOM 73.4°/dB @ 110 GHz 70°/dB @75–110 GHz1 60°/dB @ 110 GHz2 72°/dB @ 25 GHz3

1
N. S. Barker and G. M. Rebeiz, IEEE Trans. Microw. Theory Tech., vol. 48, no. 11, 2000.
2
Y. Garbovskiy et al., Journal of Applied Physics, vol. 111, no. 5, p. 054504, 2012. 16
3
A. S. Nagra and R. A. York, IEEE Trans. Microw. Theory Tech., vol. 47, no. 9, 1999
Steady State Results

Von Mises (Pa) Temp. (K)

17
 Dynamic Results

Stress and Max Displacement

Input Voltage
Displacement

6.9 ms
17.3 ms

With input voltage of 5 V:

• Rise time = 17.3 ms
• Fall time = 6.9 ms
• Actuation energy = 4.6 mJ
• Maximum Displacement = 0.8 µm
18
 Outline
• Introduction
• 100 GHz Reconfigurable Antenna
• W-band Loaded-Line Phase Shifter
• Fabrication
• Measurement Results
• Summary

19
 Layout

Four offset short calibration

standards

DIEL2-METAL1 DIEL2-METAL2 METAL2-METAL1 DIEL1-METAL1

Antennas

Phase
Shifters

METAL3-METAL1 METAL3-METAL2 DIEL3-METAL1 DIEL3-METAL2

Alignment Marks
Layout of the six photolithography mask.

20
 Fabrication
• Both phase shifters and the antennas are fabricated using the same process.

Metal 1

Dielectric 1

Metal 2
1. Deposition and patterning of heater. 4. Deposition and patterning of
Dielectric 2
paraffin layer.
Dielectric 3

Metal 3

2. Deposition and patterning of 5. Deposition and patterning of

insulating layer. encapsulating layer.

3. Deposition and patterning of 6. Deposition and patterning of

antenna and transmission lines. top electrode.

21
 Paraffin Deposition
• Thin paraffin films are deposited using spin Substrate Temperature
120 ºC
3.50
coating.
3.00
• P-xylene is used as a solvent and paraffin

Average Thickness (µm)

2.50
concentration and solution temperature is 2.00

optimized. 1.50

• Paraffin solution is spin coated on the 1.00

0.50
heated substrate to decrease the roughness 0.00
500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500
and prevent solidification during the Spin Speed (rpm)
process.

Substrate Temperature
120 ºC
1.00
0.90

Average Roughness (µm)

0.80
0.70
0.60
0.50
0.40
0.30
Sample of patterned paraffin film 0.20
0.10
0.00
500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500
Spin Speed (rpm)

22
 Fabrication Results: Antenna

Feed Line
Slot

Joule Heater
Ground Bridge

Ground Bridge

23
Fabrication Results: Antenna

24
 Fabrication Challenges
• Spin coating of paraffin is highly temperature dependent.
– Maintaining the temperature on substrate and paraffin solution is challenging.
• Depositing 3µm-thick paraffin layers with roughness of less than 0.3µm.
– Paraffin/xylene solution has a low viscosity → low spin speed → higher
roughness
– Low spin speed → higher heat loss
• Patterning of paraffin:
– Low temperature photolithography is required due to low melting
temperature of paraffin.
– Dry etching of paraffin using RIE requires water cooling of the substrate and
shorter etch times.
• Wafer handling:
– 200 micron-thick quartz wafers are used which are fragile and challenging to
process.

25
 Outline
• Introduction
• 100 GHz Reconfigurable Antenna
• W-band Loaded-Line Phase Shifter
• Fabrication
• Measurement Results
• Summary

26
 Profile Measurement

Optical Profilometer

DUT

External Joule Heater

27
DC Probe Actuation

28
On Wafer Measurement

29
 Summary
 Introduced a new class of electro-thermally actuated RF MEMS devices using paraffin.
 New class enables low loss and continuous tunability at mmW.
 Designed a frequency reconfigurable slot antenna at 100 GHz using monolithically integrated
paraffin PCM capacitors.
 Continuous reconfiguration range: 94 – 102.2 GHz.
 Paraffin PCM capacitor series resistance < 0.6 Ω
 Antenna efficiency > 65%
 Designed a W-band loaded line transmission line based on paraffin PCM capacitors.
 Capacitor series resistance < 0.45 Ω
 Figure-of-Merit: 73.4°/dB
 360° of phase shift with insertion loss of 5.06 dB.
 Carried out a fully coupled multiphysics simulation for the thermo-electro-
mechanical actuation mechanism.
 4 Physics modules are fully coupled: (1) electric currents, (2) heat transfer, (3) laminar
flow, (4) solid mechanics

30
Thank You

31
 Design
  Quartz Substrate, ,
Unloaded CPW

𝜆𝑔
𝑤   𝜇 𝑚(
200 )
  8 FEM

Lt

Ct Characteristic impedance of the Attenuation constant of the

unloaded line. unloaded line.

PCM Capacitor
2
𝐿𝑡 𝜔
𝑠
 
𝑍  𝑙 =
√ √
𝐶 𝑡 +𝐶 var / 𝑠 ( )
1−
𝜔𝐵
Loaded CPW

𝛼0 𝑍0
 
𝛼 𝑙=
𝑍 𝑙𝑑

𝑍 𝑙 =50 Ω
Fixed Values   𝐶𝑢
𝐶  𝑟= =1.15
𝐶𝑑
Lt
Phase change per unit cell Attenuation constant of
Ct Cvar / s distance of s. the loaded line

N. S. Barker and G. M. Rebeiz, "Optimization of distributed MEMS transmission-line phase shifters-U-band and W-band designs," IEEE Transactions on MTT, 32
vol. 48, no. 11, 2000 .
 Optimum Parameters

 
𝑤𝑏

𝑙𝑏
𝑠  
𝑊  
h

70

Phase change per dB loss    

Phase shift per unit cell: 2.35°

33
 Time Domain Spectroscopy

Reference

Transmitting
Antenna sample

Propagation model TDS measurement chamber.

ℱ { 𝑆𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒 }
𝑇  =
ℱ { 𝑆 𝑟𝑒𝑓 }

Reference and transmitted pulse. Amplitude and the phase of the

transmission coefficient.

34
 Complex Permittivity Characterization

  Initial Guess

Least Squares Curve Fitting

Least Squares Curve Fitting
  Error Function
TDS measurement of transmittance and phase   Error Function

4 √ 𝜖 𝑟 exp ( − 𝒿 𝑘 0 ( √ 𝜖 𝑟 − 1 ) 𝑑 )
 
𝑇 𝑚= 2 2
( 1+ √ 𝜖 𝑟 ) − ( √ 𝜖 𝑟 − 1 ) exp ( − 2 𝒿 𝑘 0 √ 𝜖 𝑟 𝑑 )

𝜖𝑠 − 1   Extracted parameters
𝜖 𝑟 =1+
1+ 𝑗 𝜔𝜏

′  

𝑒
 
− 𝒿 𝑘0 𝑧 𝜖= − 𝒿 𝜖′ |𝑇 |𝑒 𝒿 𝜙 𝑒
 
− 𝒿 𝑘0 𝑧

𝑑
  35
Propagation Model
 Complex Permittivity of Paraffin
•  Measurement bandwidth: 0.3—1.1 THz
• Frequency resolution: 0.7 GHz
• # of repeats: 300
• 20 samples with

Band Frequency Avg. SD

Ka 26 GHz
U
U 40 GHz
40 GHz
EE 60
60 GHz
GHz
W 75 GHz
W 75 GHz
F 90 GHz
F 90 GHz
D 110 GHz
D 110 GHz
G 140 GHz
G 140 GHz
Y 170 GHz
Y- 170
220 GHz
GHz
-- 220
325 GHz
GHz
- 325 GHz
500
- 500
750 GHz
- 1.1 THz
750 GHz
- 1.1 THz

36