FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT .

Design and Development of Gigahertz Range VCO Based

on Intrinsically Tunable Film Bulk Acoustic Resonator

Danial Tayari
June 2012

Masters Thesis in Electronics

Masters Program in Electronics/Telecommunications

Examiner: Prof. Daniel Rnnow
Supervisor: Prof. Spartak Gevorgian

PREFACE
The Masters thesis is the outcome of my research at Terahertz and millimeter wave laboratory
of Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, for the Masters program in Electronics/
Telecommunication Engineering at University of Gvle, Sweden.
Professor Spartak Gevorgian at Chalmers University of Technology supervised me during the thesis.
The thesis is examined by Professor Daniel Rnnow at University of Gvle.
The main focus of the thesis is on design and fabrication of voltage controlled oscillators by the
use of tunable film bulk acoustic resonator. The design was done in Advanced design system
(ADS) and fabrication was performed at Chalmers clean room at the department of Micro
technology and Nano Science, MC2.

Abstract
The purpose of this thesis is to des ign and fabricate Gigahertz range voltage controlled oscillator
based on intrinsically tunable film bulk acoustic resonator.
Modified Butterworth Van Dyke (MBVD) model was studied and implemented to simulate
FBAR behavior. Advanced designed system (ADS) was used as the simulation tool.
Oscillator theory is studied and an oscillator based on non-tunable FBAR at 2GHz is simulated
which shows -132 dBc/Hz phase noise @ 100 kHz offset frequency.
A 5.5 GHz Voltage controlled oscillator based on intrinsically tunable FBAR is designed.
Frequency tuning of 129 MHz with phase noise of -106 dBc/Hz @ 100 kHz is achieved. The
circuit is designed on a novel carrier substrate which includes integrated resonators and passive
components. Bipolar junction transistors are mounted on the carrier substrate by silver epoxy.
The thesis describes the design, development and processing of the carrier substrate, BSTO
based resonators, and the oscillator circuit.

ii

Acknowledgments
I would like to thank Professor Spartak Gevorgian for considering me as a member of his
research group.His constant supervision during the thesis period guided me through the right
pass to achieve my goal.
Dr.John Berge who helped me in the fabrication process of the VCO,without his help the
fabrication wouldnt have been done in the proposed time.
My special thanks to Professor Daniel Rnnow for accepting to be the examiner of my work.
To my friends at Gvle and Gteborg who always helped and supported me during my stay in
Sweden.
Finally I am thankful to my family for encouraging and supporting me in life.

iii

Notations and Abbreviations

Notations
C

Capacitance

Cm

Motional capacitance

foff , off

Offset (angular) frequency

Coplanar wave guide gap width

kt2

(effective) piezoelectric coupling coefficient

Phase-noise relative to carrier at offset frequency

Lm

Motional inductance

P DC

DC power

Qp

Parallel resonance quality factor

Qs

Series resonance quality factor

Rm

Motional resistance

Coplanar wave guide strip width

Zo

Characteristics impedance

eff

Effective permittivity

Attenuation constant

Acoustic phase

iv

Abbreviations

AC

Alternating Current

AIN

Aluminum Nitride

BAW

Bulk Acoustic Resonator

BJT

Bipolar Junction Transistor

BSTO

Barium Strontium Titanate

CPW

Coplanar Waveguide

DC

Direct Current

FBAR

Film Bulk Acoustic Resonator

FOM

Figure of Merit

GSG

Ground Signal Ground

HFO

Hafnium Oxide

IF

Intermediate Frequency

LO

Local Oscillator

MBVD

Modified Butterworth Van-Dyke

PLD

Pulsed Laser Deposition

PN

Phase Noise

RF

Radio Frequency

SAW

Surface Acoustic Wave

VCO

Voltage Controlled Oscillator

ZnO

Zinc Oxide

Contents
1

Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 1
1.1

Film bulk acoustic resonators............................................................................................. 3

2.1

Quality factor ....................................................................................................... 6

2.1.2

Effective Coupling coefficient................................................................................. 6

2.2

Modeling .................................................................................................................... 7

2.3

Tunable FBAR ............................................................................................................ 8

Oscillator theory ..............................................................................................................11

Relaxation oscillators ...........................................................................................11

3.1.2

Harmonic oscillators.............................................................................................12

Oscillation criteria.......................................................................................................12

3.2.1

Reflection oscillator .............................................................................................14

3.2.2

Transistor oscillator ..............................................................................................15

3.3

Oscillator Phase noise..................................................................................................16

3.4

Oscillator figure of merit ..............................................................................................17

FBAR Oscillators .............................................................................................................18

4.1

Fixed frequency FBAR Oscillator ..................................................................................19

4.2

Voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) Based on Non-tunable FBARs. ...................................22

Tunable FBAR VCO ........................................................................................................25

5.1

Types of oscillators .....................................................................................................11

3.1.1

3.2

Characteristics ............................................................................................................. 6

2.1.1

3.1

Introduction and Motivation .......................................................................................... 1

Design.......................................................................................................................25

5.1.1

ADS momentum design ........................................................................................26

5.1.2

Substrate definition ..............................................................................................26

5.1.3

Coplanar waveguide .............................................................................................27

5.1.4

Grounding capacitors............................................................................................29

5.1.5

Tunable FBAR resonator.......................................................................................31

5.1.6

Decoupling capacitor ............................................................................................32

5.1.7

Meandered circuit ................................................................................................33

5.1.8

Co-Simulation .....................................................................................................34

Device Fabrication and Measurement ................................................................................37

6.1

BSTO film growth by the PLD......................................................................................38

vi

6.1.1

PLD overview .....................................................................................................38

6.1.2

Laser-target interaction. ........................................................................................39

6.1.3

The plume...........................................................................................................39

6.1.4

Pulsed laser .........................................................................................................39

6.2

Measurements ...........................................................................................................42

6.2.1

Test resonator measurement...................................................................................42

6.2.2

Oscillator measurements .......................................................................................44

Conclusion and future work ..............................................................................................45

References .......................................................................................................................46

Appendix1: Tunable FBAR Resonator MBVD model Extracted Parameters ...............................49

Appendix2: Transmission line parameter extraction ..................................................................50
Appendix3: Fabrication Steps and recipe ..................................................................................53

vii

1 Introduction
The motivation for the work presented in the thesis and thesis organization are provided in this
chapter.

1.1 Introduction and Motivation

Oscillators are devices which create a periodic AC signal at a defined frequency. All RF and
microwave devices containing transmitters or receivers use oscillators. Usually oscillators are
deployed in receivers and transmitters with mixers in which the signal can be up or down
converted in frequency. In contrast to fixed frequency oscillators, - the voltage control oscillators
(VCOs) can produce a range of frequencies enabling the radio device using them to operate on
many different frequencies.
Communication systems frequency range can be determined by the frequency range of the
oscillator. So this frequency range is desirable t o be large enough for covering the operating
communication band.
In todays communication systems, staying within the allocated frequency band and not
disturbing other users of adjacent frequencies is very important. Therefore the frequency stability
of the devices should be very high. In case of oscillators the frequency stability is defined by its
phase noise and it is a critical issue since it determines the frequency stability of the complete
radio transceiver.
There are number of parameters affecting the oscillator phase noise. One of the most important
one is the reactive components quality factors. In LC oscillators reactive components such as
inductors and capacitors are employed in the resonator part .The LC resonator defines the
oscillation frequency and the quality factor of the resonator has significant impact on oscillator
phase noise. So the concern is to have resonators with higher quality factor. LC resonator quality
factor is generally very low (around 20) making it a challenge for designers to design low phase
noise oscillators based on LC resonators. However designing broad frequency range oscillators is
easier when using these low quality factor components.
To have high quality resonators, surface acoustic wave (SAW) and bulk acoustic wave (BAW)
devices can be used. The film bulk acoustic resonator (FBAR) is a type of recently developed
BAW devices with very high quality factor.
The main focus of this thesis work is to present an oscillator based on quite recently developed
tunable FBAR, based on BSTO material in which presents tunable characteristics under dc bias.
1

These types of FBARs make it possible for the oscillator to have relatively high tun ing range
compared to traditional AlN FBAR oscillators and are suitable in wireless communication
systems and sensor applications, e.g. bio sensing.

The contents of this thesis are organized as follows.

Chapter 2 discusses the film bulk acoustic resonator, its characteristics and modeling. Tunable
FBARs are also briefly introduced in this chapter. Chapter 3 gives some background on
oscillation theory and important criteria for oscillators. Design of fixed frequency FBAR
oscillators is presented in chapter 4 while chapter 5 gives detailed explanation of a VCO based
on tunable FBAR. Chapter 6 argues about the fabrication process and presents the measurement
results. The conclusions and future work are given in the final chapter.

2 Film bulk acoustic resonators

Film bulk acoustic resonator (FBAR) consists of a piezoelectric thin film which is sandwiched
by a pair of electrodes. Depending on the applied frequency of the electrical signal to the FBAR;
its piezoelectric material may expand or contract resulting in generation of the acoustic waves.
When the thickness of the piezoelectric layer is the same as an integer of half acoustic
wavelength the resonance occurs which means the resonance frequencies are determined by
thickness and are independent from lateral dimensions.

Piezo-electric material

Fig. 2.1 FBAR structure under bias voltage

At some frequency the impedance of FBAR reaches its minimum magnitude, which means the
generated acoustic wave travels in the most efficient way through the physical material. This
frequency is referred to the series resonant frequency fs . On the other hand when FBAR
impedance magnitude reaches its maximum there is no response from the piezoelectric meaning
that no acoustic wave transfers energy through the FBAR. This happens at parallel resonance
frequency or anti resonance frequency fp [1].

Fig. 2.2 illustrates the relation between the FBAR Impedance and its resonance frequencies

Parallel resonance

Series resonance

Fig. 2.2 A typical FBAR frequency response. Parallel and series resonances are shown

In comparison to LC resonators FBAR offers very high quality factor. In recent years FBARs
using different material with very high quality factors of more than 2000 at a few gigahertzes
have been introduced and FBAR duplexer filters for mobile phones now are commercially in
use. Integrated LC resonators with varactor typically have Q factor of around 20.

In order to have high quality factor of the FBAR, the resonator must be acoustically isolated
from the substrate. Depending on the Type of isolation FBARs are categorized as solidly
mounted or membrane mounted, Fig. 2.3.
The first type uses an acoustic reflector, a Bragg reflector, consisting of /4 layers with high and
low acoustic impedance alternatively. The second type based on an air cavity formed below the
bottom electrode.

Top-electrode

Piezo-electric material

bottom-electrode

Top-electrode

Z2

Z1

Piezo-electric material

Z2
Z1

bottom-electrode

Air
Silicon

Silicon

(a)

(b)

Fig 2.3(a) solidly mounted and (b)membrane mounted FBAR

Dimensions of FBAR are relative to acoustic wavelength. Acoustic propagation speed in solid
materials is about 103_104 m/s. For electromagnetic waves however it is of order 107_108 m/s. So
acoustic wavelength is four to five order of the magnitude lower than electrical wavelength,
consequently FBARs are much smaller than electromagnetic resonators based on transmission
line segments, for example. In addition acoustic loss is fairly low for piezoelectric materials at
gigahertz range making them useful for high quality factor resonators at those frequencies. For
example AlN_FBARs with quality factor of 280 demonstrated at 20 GHz at [2]. Some reported
FBARs are given in Table 2.1.
T able 2.1: some recently reported FBARS

Reference

fs[GHz]

Qs

Size[mm2]

[3]

1.1

386

0.058

[4]

1.9

832

[5]

1.9

1200

0.01

[6]

290

[7]

1.9

1025

[8]

4.9

300

[9]

1.8

8000

2.1 Characteristics
The important characteristics of FBAR relevant for Oscillators are the Q-factor (quality factor)
and the resonance frequencies. Regarding these, the coupling coefficient is important in that the
quality factors and impedance response depend on it.

2.1.1 Quality factor

For a resonator the quality factor is defined as
(2.1)
Where
the maximum Energy stored in the resonator and
the lossy sections in one resonance period.

is the energy dissipated in

In simple resonators Q is commonly obtained from 3_dB bandwidth of the impedance. In

FBARs however, the Q can be determined by the equation given in [10].
|

| (2.2)

2.1.2 Effective Coupling coefficient

The coupling coefficient shows the percentage of the energy converted from mechanical to
electrical and vice versa. [11]
(2.3)

2.2 Modeling
One of the most commonly used models for FBAR is the modified Butterworth-Van Dyke
(MBVD) model. [12] Which is shown in Fig. 2.4
Rm

Cm

Lm

Rs

R0

C0
Fig. 2.4 MBVD model

In this model C0 represents the parallel plate capacitance, Cm, Lm, and Rm show the acoustic
resonance, Rs represents the ohmic loss of the electrodes while R0 defines the dielectric loss.
Typically the MBVD model is extracted from the measurements and used as a model in circuit
simulation.
The measured reflection coefficient of an FBAR resonator and its equivalent MBVD model is
plotted in Fig. 2.5. The parameters of MBVD model should be tuned in a way that simulated and
measured plots fit each other excellently.

Fig. 2.5 measured and equivalent MBVD model reflection coefficient

2.3 Tunable FBAR

Traditional FBARs are not tunable, however in case of intrinsically tunable FBAR a DC voltage
is used to tune the resonance frequency of FBAR [13]. A tunable FBAR can be obtained from
the DC field dependency of dielectric constant, acoustic velocity and electromechanical coupling
coefficient
As an example of tunable FBAR, presented in [14] is shown in Fig. 2.6(a). For this FBAR,
BSTO as the ferroelectric material and HfO2 and SiO2 as the layers of the Bragg reflector are
used.

Fig. 2.6 (a) T unable FBAR

(a) resonating from 5.5GHz to 5.7 GHz

(b)ALN non tunable

(b) FBAR resonating at 2 GHz

As the bias voltage increases the resonance loop grows. For comparison Fig. 2.6(b) represent a
plot of traditional FBAR. Although the resonance frequencies are not the same, we can see the
difference between these two. For a given resonance frequency and capacitance, the resonance
loop size is governed by the effective coupling coefficient
and acoustic quality factor.
This shows that FBAR Based on AlN gives much higher quality factor than the BSTO tunable
one.
Table 2.2 gives the resonance frequencies of the resonator for different bias voltages. The
resonator is then connected to the rest of the circuit.

T able 2.2: Extracted resonance frequencies from resonator MBVD model

Bias voltage(V)

fs(GHz)

fp(GHz)

5.729

5.752

10

5.658

5.743

15

5.612

5.722

20

5.58

5.733

25

5.553

5.712

Extracted parameters of the MBVD model are given in Figure 2.7.

Motional Inductance vs. DC Bias

Motional Inductance(nH)

12
10
8
6
4
2
0
0

10

15
Voltage(V)

(a)

20

25

30

Motional Resistance (Ohms)

Motional Resistance vs. DC Bias

2.5
2.4
2.3
2.2
2.1
2
1.9
1.8
1.7
1.6
1.5
0

10

15

20

25

30

Voltage(V)

(b)

C0(pF)

Motional & Static capacitance vs. DC Bias

160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0

C0(pF)

5
4
3
2
1
0
0

10

15

20

25

Cm(fF)

Cm(fF)
6

30

Voltage(V)

(c)
Fig. 2.7 Extracted MBVD model parameters vs. bias voltage (a) motional inductance L m (b) motional resistance Rm (c) motional
and static capacitance Cm and C0

10

3 Oscillator theory
An oscillator is a circuit which uses DC power to generate periodic AC signal at its output. In an
oscillator there is no need for any input signal except for the DC power supply. This chapter
discusses briefly the two main types of oscillators, criteria to have the oscillation and the
important merits to evaluate the oscillator performance. More explanations about working
principle of the oscillators can be found in [15].

3.1 Types of oscillators

Oscillators are divided into two main groups, relaxation oscillators and harmonic Oscillators.

3.1.1 Relaxation oscillators

These oscillators switch repetitively between two states e.g. charging or discharging a capacitor
or inductor. The amplitude of the charging current and the time constant determines the
frequency of oscillation.
A simple relaxation oscillator is shown in Fig. 3.1

Fig. 3.1 Schematic of a relaxation oscillator [15]

11

3.1.2 Harmonic oscillators

A harmonic oscillator consists of a resonator and an active device. The active device cancels the
losses in the resonator, resulting constant oscillation amplitude at the frequency defined by the
resonator.
In the
oscillators the resonator is made of an inductor and a capacitor. The resonance
frequency of a
circuit is dependent on the values of the inductor and capacitor and defined as

Where

is the value of the inductor and

is the value of the capacitor.

For microwave frequencies, harmonic oscillators are preferred due to better phase noise
performance. The oscillators in this work are of harmonic type.

3.2 Oscillation criteria

Harmonic oscillators use positive feedback. If a transistor is sufficiently biased it can provide
enough feedback from the output for oscillation. This type of design is known as reflection
oscillation which is explained later in this chapter. A schematic of a feedback oscillator is shown
in Fig. 3.2

Fig. 3.2 feedback oscillator schematic

An amplifier is shown by block while represents feedback block connecting output to the
input. A small input signal is used to understand the oscillation.
12

The output signal is having a transfer function given in (3.2)

(3.2)
Where is the forward gain and a function of the amplitude of the signal, while dependence of
the feedback , is typically on the signal frequency .The open-loop gain is identified as
(3.3)
Analyzing small-signal closed loop transfer function
can be done to see if the circuit has
necessary condition for oscillation. It is important that the function has a pair of poles in the
righthand plane (RHP), or
Number of poles in the RHP + Number of poles in LHP > 0
Identifying the closed-loop transfer function and its poles is usually a difficult task. Instead small
signal open-loop gain
can be analyzed. To do this in simulation one can break open the
circuit appropriately for open loop analyses.
The Nyquist criterion represents an oscillation criterion which is based on the open-loop gain
analyses. According to this criterion when the small signal loop gain encircles the point 1+j 0 in
the clock wise direction with increasing frequency, the closed-loop system is unstable.
An example of the Nyquist plot is shown in Fig. 3.3

Fig. 3.3 (a)Nyquist plot for a circuit showing instability (b) Magnitude and phase of the open loop gain

13

The oscillation is guaranteed by Nyquist criterion, but since this criterion is based on the smallsignal loop gains, no information regarding steady state frequency and amplitude
oscillation
can be obtained from it.
To have stable oscillation, loop gain must decrease and eventually be equal to 1+j 0.This is
known as Barkhusen criterion [16]
In practice after the oscillation has been started the magnitude of the loop gain, due to the device
non-linearity will be reduced to 1 for stable amplitude.
Having a zero phase in the loop gain means all the signals are summed together, producing a sum
that is greater than any of the single signals. If they were in opposite phase for example, they
would have cancelled out, resulting in no oscillation.

3.2.1 Reflection oscillator

Reflection oscillators are common topology for microwave oscillators since the necessary
feedback to make the circuit unstable can be provided by parasitic elements of the amplifier.
Fig. 3.4 shows RF-circuit for one port negative-resistance oscillator.

0 +
+ 0 +

Fig.3.4 one port negative-resistance oscillator

14

0 +
+ 0 +

Where Zin = Rin+ jXin is the input impedance of the active device and ZL = RL+ jXL is the
impedance of the passive load.
For the oscillation to occur the following conditions must be satisfied:
+
+
For a passive load
, indicating
. So the negative resistance refers to an energy
source. When the magnitude of the signal which causes the negative resistance and the loss of
the passive component (resonator) are balanced, steady state oscillation happens.

3.2.2 Transistor oscillator

In this type of oscillator the negative resistance is provided by terminating a potentially unstable
transistor. The circuit model is shown in Fig. 3.5.

Negative resistance
Terminating

Load

Transistor

Network

Network

Fig. 3.5 Oscillator circuit model of negative resistance topology

15

3.3 Oscillator Phase noise

Phase noise is an important parameter for performance of an oscillator and is a way to qualify
frequency stability. Short term random fluctuations in the output signal are referred as phase
noise. For a given signal as
0

both the amplitude

and phase
are constant but in realistic oscillators either external or
internal noise-sources to the oscillator cause both quantities to have fluctuations.

Output spectrum of a realistic oscillator is given in Fig. 3.6

Amplitude

Random phase variations

Discrete spurious signals

frequency

f0
Fig. 3.6 Output spectrum of RF oscillator

Amplitude variation is limited and due to circuit non-linearities for steady state oscillation has
less impact on the oscillator performance. Phase variation on the other hand may be random and
discrete- making it the main contributor in oscillation-noise.
In communication systems it is important for devices to stay in their defined operating frequency
band, thus phase noise plays an important role since the frequency stability of the total system is
16

determined by the frequency stability of the oscillator. For instance a local oscillator may cause
channel interference due to its high phase noise when used in a down converter as shown in
Fig. 3.7.
Power

Frequency

fIF

fLO
Interference

wanted and adjacent channels

Fig. 3.7 channel interference caused by noisy local oscillator

Oscillator phase noise is defined as the ratio of the power of a side band to the power of the
carrier frequency at an offset frequency
from the carrier. Typically the side band is
normalized by the unit bandwidth.
(

3.4 Oscillator figure of merit

Figure of merit (FOM) is used to rank oscillators. The most common FOM is given by (3.8)

(3.8)

Where
is the phase noise in dBc/Hz ,
is the offset frequency ,
frequency and P DC is the transistor DC power consumption in milliwatt.

17

is the oscillation

4 FBAR Oscillators
The small size and high quality factor of FBAR resonators make them to be of interest in
microwave oscillators.
Table 4.1 shows some publications of Oscillators based on FBAR.
T able 4.1: Summary of FBAR.based Oscillators
year

Ref

FBAR1

Resonator
integration

T echnology

f0

P out

P DC

PN

FOM

[GHz]

[dBm]

[mW]

[dBc/Hz]

[dB]

0.259

-24

1984

[17]

ZnO,mm

Mounted on
pcb

2001

[18]

ZnO,mm

Mounted on
pcb

AlGaAS
HBT

2.2

2003

[19]

AlN,mm

Mounted on
pcb

bipolar

1.985

10

-112@ 10 kHz

2005

[20]

ZnO,mm

Mounted on
pcb

1.1

-13.6

-115@ 10 kHz

2008

[21]

sm

Mounted on
pcb

130 nm
CMOS

2.2

-136@1 MHz

195

2008

[22]

ALN,sm

Mounted on
pcb

65 nm CMOS

22

0.06 2

-124@100kHz2

222

2008

[23]

sm

Mounted on
pcb

65 nm CMOS

22

0.9 2

-128@100kHz2

214

2009

[24]

ALN,sm

Mounted on
pcb

BiCMOS

2.11

21.6

-136@100 kHz

209

2011

[25]

ALN,mm

Mounted on
pcb

0.18 m
CMOS

0.022

-121@100kHz

mm=membrane mounted, sm=solidly mounted

simulated

18

-66@100 kHz

-108@100kHz

197

222.9

4.1 Fixed frequency FBAR Oscillator

The topology used in this work to design a fixed frequency FBAR oscillator is shown in Fig. 4.1.
A commercial BJT transistor (Infineon BFP-420) on common-base topology is used and the
circuit is designed as negative resistance Oscillator so that the transistor parasitic provides
necessary feedback required.

output
matching
network

Resonator
matching
network

Resonator

ZR

Za
Fig.4.1 common base topology

For the circuit to oscillate the oscillation condition Z R+Za =0 must be satisfied. This can be
achieved by designing a proper output matching network.The resonator is placed at the emitter
port via a matching network. The resonator implemented in the circuit is of AlN solidly mounted
type presented in [26].
The equivalent MBVD model of the resonator is given in Fig 4.2, while Table 4.2 summarizes
corresponding parameters, - the series and parallel resonance frequencies, as well as the Q
factors.
Rm

Cm

Lm

Rs

R0

C0

Fig. 4.2 2 GHz FBAR MBVD model

T able 4.2: 2 GHz FBAR extracted parameters [26]

Rm= 1.4

Cm=72.2 fF

fs =2.045 GHz fp =2.065 GHz

Lm=83.9 nH

Rs =2.8

Qs =750

Qp =250

19

R0 =0.5

C0 =3.7 pF

As it is discussed in chapter 2 FBAR shows much lower impedance at the series resonance than
of the parallel one making it easier to design the matching network for compensating the losses
of the resonator. Regarding this the Oscillator is designed functioning at the series resonance of
the resonator. The circuit is based on 0.6 mm Alumina substrate and microstrip transmission
lines are used as matching networks.
Simulation is done using Agilent ADS software. Large signal model provided by the
manufacturer is used to characterize the transistor, which is biased at V cc =4 V and I c=20 mA The
output matching is designed to create an impedance which cancels out the resonator losses so
there is no need for extra matching network at the resonator side.
Quarterwave transmission lines and capacitors are used as RF chokes, Harmonic balance is used
for large signal analysis of the steady state oscillation and finally the procedure is completed by
fine tuning the circuit. Fig. 4.3 shows the ADS schematic of the circuit.

FBAR model

Fig. 4.3 ADS schematic of the designed 2 GHz fixed frequency FBAR Oscillator

Fig. 4.4(a) shows the output spectrum of the circuit. It can be seen that the circuit oscillates at
2.044 GHz which agrees with the resonator series resonance frequency.
The Oscillator phase noise is given in Fig. 4.4(b). At 100 kHz offset from the fundamental, the
oscillator has a phase noise of -132 dBc/Hz which is better than the one reported in[22].
The output waveform is given Fig. 4.3(c) in two periods.

20

(a)

(b)

(c)
Fig. 4.3 2 GHZ FBAR Oscillator (a) output spectrum (b)phase noise plot
(c) output voltage in time domain

21

4.2 Voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) Based on Non-tunable FBARs.

In LC oscillators frequency tuning can usually be achieved by directly connecting a control
voltage at the varactor part of the resonator. In AlN FBAR oscillators however this method
doesnt give frequency tuning range higher than 1 MHz. Some of the reported VCOs based on
non-tunable FBAR are listed in Table 4.3.
T able 4.3: comparisons of non-tunable FBAR VCOs

Reference

f0(GHz)

Power

Tuning
range[MHz]

Best
PN@1MHz[dBc/Hz]

FOM[dB]

Technology

[20]

1.1

0.2

-123

Discrete

[19]

3.3V/35
mA

2.5

-150

-195

Bipolar

[27]

2.1

2.4V/24.
3mA

37

-144

-193

0.25m
BiCMOS+
aboveIC

[28]

67w

10

-149

-220

0.13mCM
OS

Fig. 4.4 shows a colpitts based PCB oscillator, with the FBAR wire bonded to the circuit. This
topology is used in [20] and by applying a DC control voltage a very small frequency tuning
range is achieved.

Vtune

Vdd

FBAR

Fig. 4.4.Colpitts based Oscillator [20]

22

The VCO in [19] is based on common-collector topology. The FBAR is wire bonded to the
Oscillator and a varactor is coupled to the FBAR to reach the tunability of 2.5 MHz at 2 GHz.

Fig. 4.5 FBAR VCO with tuning varactor [19]

The circuit diagrams in [27] and [28] are given Fig. 4.6 and Fig. 4.7.

Fig. 4.6 circuit diagram of the series resonance FBAR VCO core with a single ended output buffer [27]

23

Fig. 4.7 FBAR-based differential Colpitts oscillator with gate-to-source feedback gain boosting [28]

The parasitic, non-tunable, reactive elements of the circuit always reduce the frequency
tunability. By comparing the works that have been done until now it can be understood that to
have more tuning range of the FBAR the circuit topology gets more complicated and yet the
tuning range is quite low compared to LC VCOs.
Due to limitations in fabrication process, in this work the purpose was to design a high tuning
range FBAR VCO keeping the circuit topology as simple as possible by using only one
transistor. Chapter 5 discusses the design of a voltage control oscillator based on intrinsically
tunable FBARs.

24

5 Tunable FBAR VCO

As it is mentioned in section [2.3] tuning of an FBAR is possible by having ferroelectric material
like BSTO as the piezoelectric of the FBAR resonator. Oscillators based on tunable FBARs are
not studied previously and this work presents VCOs using tunable FBARS for the first time.

5.1

Design

In this section an integrated VCO based on Tunable FBAR is presented. The design and
simulation are done in Agilent ADS software and the final mask is prepared for fabrication
process.
A single transistor topology is chosen in order to reduce the fabrication complexity. The tunable
FBAR is located on the emitter of the transistor as shown in Fig. 5.1. The oscillator frequency is
defined by the series resonance frequency of the device which is tunable according to the applied
bias voltage VR through the inductor L.

S3

Output

C1

TFBAR
R

VR
S1

VEE

S2

C2

Vcc

C3

Fig. 5.1 T unable FBAR Oscillator circuit Schematics

Decoupling capacitor C1 is used to isolate the resonator from the circuit in DC. An open stub
matching network at the output and inductive stub at the resonator ports make the compensation
for the resonator loss. Stubs S1 and S2 are quarter waves and AC shorted by capacitors C 2 and
C3The output is taken from the collector by a 50 load. Coplanar wave guide which.is used for
the stubs and matching network and the transistor is the same as in section [4.1] (base, two
emitters and collector).One of the emitters connects to the FBAR via S 3 and the other is used for
dc-bias through stub S1.

25

5.1.1 ADS momentum design

To do electromagnetic simulation of the circuit, the design is done in ADS momentum.
Each part of the circuit is separately simulated and finally Co-simulation is done to analyze the
total circuit including DC analyses. The following section describes the design in momentum.

5.1.2 Substrate definition

The substrate used in this work was presented in [14] to achieve a tunable FBAR. Fig. 5.2 shows
the substrate layers with the corresponding thicknesses. The circuit is designed using 0.5m
thick gold layer on top of the BSTO layer. For the resonator and circuit fabrication the metal
layers are patterned according the design as explained in sections [5.1.5-5.1.8].

Ti/Al 10/100nm

Ba0.25Sr0.75TiO2 234nm
Ti/Tio2/Pt 20/25/100nm

Sio2 284nm
Hfo2 260nm
Sio2 284nm
Hfo2 260nm
Sio2 284nm
Hfo2 260nm

Silicon

Fig.5.2 Schematic view of the substrate cross section[14]

26

5.1.3 Coplanar waveguide

The conventional coplanar waveguide (CPW) consists of conductors on top of a dielectric surface
[29]. The two ground planes are separated from the center strip by the gap as shown in Fig. 5.3.

Fig. 5.3 CPW line

The thickness and permittivity of the substrate, the dimensions of the center strip and the gap
width determine the characteristic impedance (Z0), the attenuation constant and the effective
dielectric constant (eff) of the CPW. [29].
Using CPW simplifies the fabrication, eliminates the need for via holes and reduces radiation
loss [30]. In CPW characteristic impedance is determined not only by the strip but also the slot
width, making possible to reduce the size without limit. The only drawback is higher losses[31].
To make low Z0 in conventional CPW, a very wide center strip conductor and a very narrow slot
width can be fabricated. This however shows high current density at the slot edges which
increases conductor losses; moreover a wide strip conductor can potentially couple power from
the dominant CPW mode to unwanted spurious propagation modes. Therefore it is not
recommended to have conventional CPW lines with Z0 less than 30 [29].
Fig. 5.3 shows the CPW used in this circuit design in ADS momentum.

27

Fig. 5.3 CPW in ADS momentum

In this design, GSG ports are defined. Ports1 and 2 are defined as signal ports, ports 3 and 5 are
ground reference ports associated with port 1 and ports 4 and 6 are ground reference associated
with port 2.Table 5.1 gives the line parameters extracted from the software by keeping t he center
strip width constant.
T able 5.1: Extracted CPW parameters from ADS momentum at 5.421 GHz

Z0()

eff

(dB/mm)

g(m)

S(m)

41.677

8.216

0.146

100

47

7.422

0.101

25

100

48.85

7.273

0.091

35

100

49.4

7.217

0.087

40

100

49.8

7.169

0.083

45

100

50

7.144

0.081

48

100

51.7

7.095

0.078

55

100

53

7.037

0.073

65

100

54.1

6.99

0.069

75

100

28

It can be seen that the strip and gap widths of 100 and 48 m respectively, determined the CPW
characteristic impedance of the 50 which was later used in the circuit design.
Using this data in the general transmission line model, the Oscillator circuit was designed based
on the measured data of the tunable FBAR resonator introduced in [14].
The ADS schematic of the circuit is shown in Fig. 5.4.

Tunable FBAR S1P model

Fig. 5.4 ADS schematic of designed tunable FBAR VCO circuit

Due to the relatively low Q factor of tunable FBAR resonator it was decided to integrate the
circuit to reduce the noise caused by parasitic effects as much as possible.

5.1.4 Grounding capacitors

In order to AC ground the quaterwave stubs in the design, the platinum layer forms bottom
electrode of the capacitor. As shown in Fig. 5.5.
Since there are conductive holes in BSTO a 100 nm silicon dioxide layer is considered over the
BSTO layer to isolate the top and bottom electrode in DC.

29

Pt+Sio2 +Au

Pt+Au

SiO2

Au

Fig. 5.5 large size AC grounding capacitor

Fig. 5.6 Reflection coefficient of the AC shorted quarterwave length stub

The reflection coefficient of the grounded quarterwave length stubs is shown in Fig. 5.6.The
stubs represent high impedance at the desired oscillation frequency range, suitable for isolating
RF signal from the DC bias voltage
30

5.1.5 Tunable FBAR resonator

The resonator was modeled and designed according to the measured data obtained in [14]. The
resonator is connected to the emitter by an integrated inductor made from the Al top electrode.
The active area of the resonator is 700m2 Fig. 5.7 gives illustration of the resonator in
Momentum.

Al
Au

Pt

Fig. 5.7 T unable FBAR resonator in ADS momentum

The geometry of the top-electrode in the active area is designed in way to suppress spurious
lateral acoustic resonances. The DC probe will be applied to the gold patch on the top of
aluminum inductor.To get the resonance frequency of the resonator Co-simulation is done by
adding the motional parameters from MBVD model as shown in Fig. 5.8.
MBVD model
motional
parameters

Resonator
active area

Resonator
DC Bias
location

Spiral inductor
made from Top
Al electrode

Fig. 5.8 T unable FBAR Co-simulation in ADS

31

5.1.6 Decoupling capacitor

To isolate the DC bias of the resonator from other part of the circuit a series decoupling capacitor
near the emitter leg is used, as shown in Fig. 5.9. Here again the gold layer and bottom electrode
are isolated using silicon dioxide layer.
RF signal
Path
T ransistors Emitter

Au

Au

Resonator

Sio2

leg

C1

C2

BSTO
Pt

Fig. 5.9 Decoupling capacitor (C1 and C2 form a series capacitor letting through the RF and isolating DC of the resonator).

Capacitors C1 and C2 are formed between the platinum and gold layers with BSTO and SiO2 as
The dielectric material. The series capacitor

is large enough not to load the resonator

to affect the RF signal and the discontinuity at the gold layer prevents the DC bias signal
disturbing the rest parts of the circuit. The decoupling capacitor is illustrated in Fig. 5.10 which
shows the total designed circuit in momentum

Fig. 5.10 T otal oscillator circuit in momentum

32

5.1.7 Meandered circuit

Due to limitation in the fabrication and dimension of the sample (1 10mm) it was decided to
make the circuit as compact as possible so the transmission lines were meander in order to have
two circuits in one sample. The circuits with meandered lines are represented in Fig. 5.11

Fig. 5.11 meandered circuit

33

5.1.8 Co-Simulation
Some modification such as placing the resonators in the middle of the mask and adding some test
resonators needed to be done for the final mask to get the optimum layout for fabrication. To see
the oscillator performance Co-simulation is done which is shown in Fig. 5.12

Fig. 5.12 Co-simulation of final oscillator design

34

Co-simulation results for different bias voltages are given in Table 5.2.

T able 5.2: Oscillator Co-simulation results

Resonator bias voltage(V)

Oscillation frequency(GHz)

PN@100kHz(dBc/Hz)

5.655

-101

10

5.596

-106

15

5.561

-106.3

20

5.545

-106.3

25

5.526

-106.4

(a)

Pout (dBm)

(b)

(c)

Fig. 5.13 Co-simulation results of tunable FBAR Oscillator (a)output voltage (b)phase noise (c) output
spectrum

35

The Co-simulation results show that the Oscillation frequency tunability range of 129 MHz. The
oscillation frequency is slightly lower than the resonator series resonance frequency which is
expected for the loaded resonator. The phase noise is -106 dBc/Hz @ 100kHz frequency offset
from the carrier. The final mask for fabrication is given in figure 5.14

Fig. 5.14 final oscillator mask with the frame and alignment

Fig. 5.14 Final mask

36

6 Device Fabrication and Measurement

Fabrication of the device is done at Chalmers C leanroom. A 20 nm thick layer of TiO2 for better
adhesion between SiO2 and Pt using magnetron sputtering . The device layer is sputtered on the
1 1cm sample containing the Bragg reflector. Bottom electrode pattern has been mapped from
the mask to the platinum bottom electrode by photolithography as shown in Fig. 6.1

Fig. 6.1 fabricated sample picture after bottom electrode pattering (the white areas show the platinum layer)

37

6.1 BSTO film growth by the PLD

The growth of the BSTO film has been performed using Pulsed Laser Deposition .(PLD) and
explained in following section.

6.1.1 PLD overview

PLD concept is basically simple and is shown in Fig. 6.2.

Fig. 6.2 Schematic of PLD device [32]

A short pulsed laser beam is focused onto a target (BSTO in this work). Plasma is formed
immediately on the target surface due to the pulse energy. The plasma then reaches the substrate
which had been mounted on a heater and heated to the defined temperature and causes the target
material to be deposited on the substrate.
There are numbers of parameters playing role in the deposited film quality. Some of those are
given in the following sections.
38

6.1.2 Laser-target interaction.

When the laser beam strikethrough the target surface, the material ablates out with same
stoichiometry as in the target. The vapor pressure, absorption of the material and pulse laser
wavelength determines the amount of ablated material [33].

6.1.3 The plume

The target forms a plume after ablation. This high energy plume tends to move towards the
substrate and presents forward peaking phenomenon [34].
Oxygen is often introduced into the chamber to keep constant the stoichiometry of the oxide
material and reduce the kinetic energy [33].
The pressure of the background gas and the distance between the substrate and target define the
shape of the plume.

6.1.4 Pulsed laser

The laser energy significantly affects the film quality. Higher energy increases the vapor pressure
and consequently the kinetic energy which could result in defects in the surface of the deposited
film due to re-sputtering.
Substrate temperature dramatically effects the deposited film quality in a way that higher
temperature results in better quality.
Table 6.1 summarizes the process parameters used by PLD system in BSTO film deposition.
T able 6.1: PLD system Setting

parameters
Laser source
Laser wavelength
Energy density
Target
Oxygen pressure
Repetition rate
Substrate

comments
KrF
248 nm
1.5 J.cm-2
BSTO
20 Pa
10 Hz
Si/Hfo2/Sio2/./Tio2/Pt

Substrate temperature
Substrate-target distance

6200 -640o C
6 cm

39

Fig. 6.3 shows the sample after BSTO deposition

Fig. 6.3. 10 10 mm sample after BST O deposition. T he rain blow color shows the thickness difference of BST O surface

Isolating SiO2 , 100 nm aluminum top electrode and finally 500 nm gold layers were sputtered
and patterned on the sample. A step by step fabrication process is presented in Appendix 3.The
AFM picture of the BSTO film in the middle of the sample is shown in Fig. 6.4.

Fig. 6.4.AFM picture of the BST O film (a) 2D (b) 3D view of the BST O film surface

The sample is shown in Figs. 6.5 (a), (b) and (c) after pattering of each layer.
40

(a)

(b)

(c)

Fig. 6.5 fabricated sample after (a) Sio 2 deposition & lift -off (b) Gold deposition & image reversal resist removal
(c) Al deposition & lift -off

41

6.2 Measurements
6.2.1 Test resonator measurement
Test resonator one port measurement was done using Agilent PNA N5230A and probe station
with 150- m GSG mounted microprobes. Figures 6.7, 6.8 and 6.9 show the fabricated test
resonator and measurement results.
G
S
G

DC Bias

Fig. 6.7 fabricated and measured T est resonator

20v
15v
10v
5v
2v

Fig. 6.8 T est resonator reflection coefficient @ different DC bias voltages

42

fs&fp(GHz)

Test resonator series and parallel resonace frequencies

5.7
5.65
5.6
5.55
5.5
5.45
5.4
5.35
5.3
5.25
5.2

ffp
s
ffsp

10

15

20

25

Voltage(V)

Fig. 6.9 measured series and parallel resonance frequencies

The test resonator measured results in comparison to the previously measured data which was
used in the oscillator circuit design show a shift of around 200 MHz downwards in the resonance
frequencies. It was also observed that maximum bias voltage for the resonator before the
breakdown is 20V.These effects are due to the integrated inductor and fabrication process
technology which differs slightly from the previously used resonator.

43

6.2.2 Oscillator measurements

To measure the oscillator, BJT transistors were mounted on the circuit by silver epoxy as shown
in Fig. 6.10.

Fig. 6.10 Final oscillator circuits including transistors

Prior to RF measurement of the oscillator output spectrum and the phase noise, a DC
measurement was done to verify the transistor is consuming the expected power as considered in
the simulation.
DC measurement showed that unfortunately the grounding capacitors were shorted to ground in
DC due to the pin holes in SiO 2 layer. That could be because of FHR device which heats the
sample to several hundred degrees resulting a low quality SiO 2 sputtered layer.

44

7 Conclusion and future work

BSTO intrinsically tunable FBAR and passive components have been monolithically integrated
on high resistivity silicon substrate. To demonstrate the optional of the technology, 5.5 GHz
voltage controlled Oscillator have been designed and fabricated on the substrate.
The simulated results showed high tunability with low phase noise compared to LC tank
oscillators.
Measured Test resonators represent tenability of 114MHz @ 5.5 GHz. DC measurement of the
Oscillator revealed short circuit in the integrated RF grounding capacitors due to pin holes in the
SiO2 and BSTO layer.
Future work will contain another fabrication round to prevent the pin holes by using E-beam
evaporation technology for SiO 2 deposition. Depending on the Oscillator performance, the
fabrication process can be further optimized.
Oscillator circuit topology can be modified to improve the performance based on the
measurements of the latest presented tunable FBAR technology with higher Q factors.

45

8 References
[1] R. Lanz and P. Muralt, Bandpass filters for 8 GHz using solidly mounted bulk acoustic
wave resonators., IEEE transactions on ultrasonics, ferroelectrics, and frequency control, vol.
52, Jun. 2005, pp. 936-46.
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IEEE Transactions an Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control, vol. 49, no.
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[4] S.-H. Lee, J.-H. Kim, G.D. Mansfeld, K.H. Yoon, and J.-K. Lee, Influence of Electrodes and
Bragg Reflector on the Quality of Thin Film bulk Acoustic wave Resonators, in IEEE
International Frequency Control Symposium and PDA Exhibition, 2002, pp. 45-49.
[5] B.P. Otis and J.M: Rabaey, A 300-W 1.9-GHz CMOS Oscillator Utilizing Micromachined
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[6] T. Yokoyama, T. Nishihara, S. Taniguchi, M. Iwaki, Y. Satoh, M. Ueda, and T.
Miyashita,New Electrode Material for low-loss and High-Q FBAR Filters, in Proc. IEEE 2004
Ultrasonics symposium, vol. 1, pp. 429-432.
[7] B. Ha, I. Song, Y. Park, D. kim, W. kim, K. Nam, and J.J. Pak, Novel 1-chip FBAR Filter
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Tech. Papers, 2005, vol. 2, pp. 2069-2073.
[8] H. Zhang, J. Kim, W. Pang, H. Yu, and E.S:Kim, 5GHz lLow-phase-noise Oscillator Based
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Applications Employing Two Step Annealing Treatments in IEEE Microwave and Wireless
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[10] M. Norling, J. Berge, and S. Gevorgian Paraeter extraction for tunable TFBARs based on
BaxSr1-xTio3 in IEEE MTT-S Int. Microwave Symp. Dig., 2009, pp. 101-104.
[11] K. M. Lakin, G. R. Kline, and K. T. McCarron, High-Q microwave acoustic resonators and
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[12] J. D. Larson III, P. D. Bradley, S. Wartenburg, and R.C Ruby, Modified Butterworth-Van
Dyke circuit for FBAR resonators and automated measurement system, in Proc. IEEE Ultrason.
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[13] S. Gevorgian, a Vorobiev, and T. Lewin, dc field and temperature dependent acoustic
resonances in parallel-plate capacitors based on SrTiO[sub 3] and Ba[sub 0.25]Sr[sub
0.75]TiO[sub 3] films: Experiment and modeling, Journal of Applied Physics, vol. 99, 2006, p.
124112.
[14] J. Berge and S. Gevorgian, Tunable bulk acoustic wave resonators based on
Ba0.25Sr0.75TiO3 thin films and a HfO 2/SiO2 Bragg reflector, in IEEE Transactions on
Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics and Frequency Control, vol. 58 ,no. 12, 2011, pp. 2768-2771,
[15] Nave. R. (2010). Relaxation Oscillator Concept. Available: http://hyperphysics.phyastr.gsu.edu/hbase/electronic/relaxo.html. Last accessed 16th April 2012.
[16] A. R. Hambley, Electronics, 2nd ed., Prentice Hall, 2000, pp.636-640.
[17] S.G Burns and R.S:Ketcham, Fundamental-mode Pierce oscillators utilizing bulk-acousticwave resonators in the 250-300MHz range,IEEE Trans.Microw.Theory Tech., vol.MTT32,no.12,pp.16668-1671,Dec.1984.
[18]Y.S.Park,S.P inkett,J.S.Kenney,and W.D:Hunt,A 2.4 GHz VCO with an integrated acoustic
solidly mounted resonator, in Proc.IEEE Ultrason. Symp.,2001,pp.839-842.
[19] A.Khanna,E.Gane,and T.Chong, A 2 GHz voltage tunable FBAR oscillator, in IEEE
MTT-S Int. Microwave Synp. Dig.,2003,pp. 717-720.
[20] J.J Kim, H. ZHANG, W. Pang, H. Yu, and E.S: Kim, low phase-noise FBAR-based
voltage controlled oscillator without varactor, in Proc. IEEE solid-state Sensors, Actuators and
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[21] P. Vincent, J. B. david, I. Burciu, J. Prouvee, C. Billard, C. Fuchs, G. Parat, E.Defoucaud,
and A. Reinhardt, A 1 V 220 MHz-tuning-range 2.2 GHz VCO using a BAW resonator, in
IEEE Int. Solid-State Circiuts Conf. Dig. Papers, 2008, pp. 478-479.
[22] S. Dossou, N. Abele, E. Cesar, P. Ancey, J.F. Carpentier, P. Vincent, and J. M. Fournier,
60 W SMR BAW oscillator designed in 65 nm CMOS technology, in IEEE Int. Symp. Circiuts
Syst. Dig. Papers, 2008, pp. 1456-1459.
[23] P.Guillot, P.Phlippe, C.Berland, and J.F. Bercher, A2 GHz 65 nm CMOS digitally-tunned
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[24] H. El-Aabbaoui, J.-B. David, E. D. Foucauld, and P. Vincent, Ultra low phase noise 2.1
GHz Colpitts oscillators using BAW resonator. in IEEE MTT-S Int. Microwave Symp. Dig.,
2009, pp. 1285-1288.
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IEEE Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits Symp (RFIC)., 2011
[26]. M. Norling, J. Enlund, S. Gevorgian, and I. Katardjiev, A 2 GHz oscillator based on a
solidly mounted thin film bulk acoustic wave resonator, in IEEE MTT-S Int. Microwave Symp.
Dig., 2006, pp. 1813-1816.
[27] Kim B. Ostman, and al., Novel VCO Architecture Using Series AboveIC FBAR and Parallel LC Resonance,in IEEE J. of Solid-State circuits,
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Custom Integrated Circuits Conf (CICC)., 2011
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[30] D. A. Blackwell, D. E. Dawson, and D. C. Buck, X-Band MMIC Switch with 70
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particles desorbed from laser irradiated CdS. Surf. Sci., 166(1), 1986.

48

Appendix1: Tunable FBAR Resonator MBVD model Extracted

Parameters

(a)

Impedance magnitude,(Ohms)

(b)

(d)
(c)
Fig.1T unable FBAR resonator MBVD model extracted parameters (a) series and parallel resonance frequencies
(b) series and parallel Q factors (c) effective coupling coefficient (d) impedance magnitude

49

Appendix2: Transmission line parameter extraction

Conversion S-parameter to ABCD

Conversion of S to ABCD-parameter is given in [1]

Z o 1 S11 1 S 22 S12S 21
1 S11 1 S 22 S12S 21
A B
1

C D 2S 1 1 S11 1 S 22 S12S 21

S
1

S
S
11
22
12 21

21 Z
o

ABCD network for Transmission line

cosh( ) Z o sinh( )
sinh( )

cosh( )

Z
o

,Z 0

Zo is a characteristic impedance of the transmission line.

is the length of the line.

Note that

Complex propagation constant

= attenuation constant NP/m

= wave propagation constant

50

For a Lossless line

=0

cosh( jk ) cos(k)
sinh( jk ) j sin(k)
When the transmission line is lossless this reduces to

cos(k )
sin(k )
j
Zo

jZ o sin(k )

cos(k )

For TEM wave propagation the effective permittivity and Loss tangent can be obtained from [1]

Where

Where

is the attenuation constant due to dielectric in NP/m.

Extracted parameter for CPW from ADS momentum simulation are plotted from 0 to 20 GHz in
Fig. 1(a),(b),(c).

51

(a)

(b)

(c)
Fig. 1 extracted parameters for a 1.4 mm length CPW with g=48m and S=100 m on the multilayer substrate (a) characteristic
impedance (b)effect permittivity (c)attenuation constant

Reference
[1] David M. Pozar, Microwave engineering Third edition. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2005

52

Appendix3: Fabrication Steps and recipe

Note: the thicknesses are not to the same scale

Process
1.New sample including
Bragg reflector

Recipe
Parameters:Hfo2 260nm/
SiO2 284nm(3 pairs)

Schematic
Sio2 284nm
Hfo2 260nm
Sio2 284nm

Size:10 10 mm
Thickness:501 m

Hfo2 260nm
Sio2 284nm
Hfo2 260nm

Silicon

2.Cleaning

Tool: Wet bench

Sio2 284nm

Parameters: Acetone,
Ultrasonic bath for 3 min @
100% power

3.TiO2 Deposition

Intention: To clean the photo

resist used for protecting the
wafer during cutting
Tool: Sputter
NORDIKO 2000

Hfo2 260nm
Sio2 284nm
Hfo2 260nm

Sio2 284nm
Hfo2 260nm

Silicon

Sio2 284nm
Hfo2 260nm

Parameters: Ti and O2 for 8

min.

Sio2 284nm
Hfo2 260nm

Sio2 284nm

4.Platinum Deposition

Intention: To deposit Tio2 on

the sample for better adhesion
between Sio2 and Pt.
Tool: Sputter
NORDIKO 2000

Hfo2 260nm

Silicon

pt 100 nm

Sio2 284nm

Parameters:
Pt for 2 min @60 w

Hfo2 260nm
Sio2 284nm
Hfo2 260nm

Intention: To deposit Pt on the

sample as the bottom
electrode

53

Sio2 284nm
Hfo2 260nm

Silicon

5.Cleaning

Tool: Wet bench

pt 100 nm

Parameters: Acetone,
Ultrasonic bath for 3 min @
100% power

Sio2 284nm
Hfo2 260nm
Sio2 284nm
Hfo2 260nm

Intention: To clean surface

from impurities before
applying the photo resist

6.Resist applying and

spinning

Tool: Hot plates and resist

spinner
Parameters:
photo resist S1813 @4000rpm
for 30 sec.
Hot Plates@ 900 C for 1 min.

Sio2 284nm

Hfo2 260nm

Silicon

pt 100 nm

Sio2 284nm

Hfo2 260nm
Sio2 284nm
Hfo2 260nm
Sio2 284nm

7.Photo resist pattering-I

(edge removal)

Intention: To apply resist

evenly on the sample for edge
removal
Tool: Mask aligner
KS MJB3-UV 400
Parameters:
Soft contact, exposure time 1
min.

Hfo2 260nm

Silicon

pt 100 nm

Sio2 284nm
Hfo2 260nm

Intention: To remove resist

edges

Sio2 284nm
Hfo2 260nm

Sio2 284nm
Hfo2 260nm

Silicon

8.Developing

Tool: Wet bench

pt 100 nm

Parameters:
Developer MF-319 for 1.5
min.

Sio2 284nm
Hfo2 260nm
Sio2 284nm

Intention: To develop exposed

resist edges

Hfo2 260nm

Sio2 284nm
Hfo2 260nm

Silicon

54

9.Photo resist patterning -II

Tool: Mask aligner

KS MJB3-UV 400
Parameters: soft contact,
exposure time 15 sec.

pt 100 nm

Sio2 284nm
Hfo2 260nm

Intention: To expose photo

resist according to the bottom
electrode mask pattern

Sio2 284nm

Hfo2 260nm
Sio2 284nm
Hfo2 260nm

Silicon

10.Developing

Tool: Wet bench

pt 100 nm

Parameters:
Developer MF-319 for 15
sec.
Intention: to develop the
exposed photo resist

Sio2 284nm

Hfo2 260nm
Sio2 284nm
Hfo2 260nm
Sio2 284nm
Hfo2 260nm

Silicon

11.Etching

Tool: Ion Beam Milling

Oxford Chamber.
Parameters: Argon gas flow
for 20 min.

pt 100 nm

Sio2 284nm
Hfo2 260nm

Sio2 284nm
Hfo2 260nm

Intention: To pattern the Pt

bottom electrode layer

Sio2 284nm
Hfo2 260nm

Silicon

12.Resist removal

Tool: Wet bench, Ultra sonic

bath

pt 100 nm

Sio2 284nm

Parameter: Microposit
remover @750C Ultra sonic
bath @%100 for 10 min.

Hfo2 260nm

Sio2 284nm
Hfo2 260nm
Sio2 284nm

Intention: to remove
photoresist
55

Hfo2 260nm

Silicon

13.Oxygen plasma strip

Tool: Plasma Therm Batch

Top

pt 100 nm

Sio2 284nm

Parameters:O2 plasma for 1

min @ 250 W.

Hfo2 260nm

Sio2 284nm
Hfo2 260nm

Intention: to remove organic

residue from photo resists.

Sio2 284nm
Hfo2 260nm

Silicon

14.BSTO deposition

Tool: Pulsed Laser

Deposition-(PLD)
Parameters: Target BSTO
Temperature 620-640o C3100 laser pulses in 5 min.

BSTO 234nm

pt 100 nm

Sio2 284nm
Hfo2 260nm
Sio2 284nm
Hfo2 260nm

Intention: To deposit BSTO

film

Sio2 284nm

Hfo2 260nm

Silicon

15.Cleaning

Tool: Wet bench

Parameters: Acetone

BSTO 234nm

pt 100 nm

Sio2 284nm

Intention: to clean the sample

surface after BSTO deposition
Ready to be taken to the main
cleanroom

Hfo2 260nm
Sio2 284nm
Hfo2 260nm

Sio2 284nm
Hfo2 260nm

Silicon

16.LOR Lift off- Resist

Tool: Wet bench Hot plates

Resist spinner
BSTO 234nm

Parameters: LOR 3A
@4000rpm for 1 min.
Hot plates: 5 min@ 1900 C.

pt 100 nm

Sio2 284nm
Hfo2 260nm
Sio2 284nm

Intention: Coat and prebake

LOR

Hfo2 260nm
Sio2 284nm
Hfo2 260nm

Silicon

56

17.Coat and prebake imaging

resist

Tool: Wet bench Hot plates

Resist spinner

BSTO 234nm

pt 100 nm

Parameters: Photo resist

S1813@4000 rpm for 30 sec.
Hot plates @1100 C for 2 min.

Sio2 284nm
Hfo2 260nm
Sio2 284nm

Intention: Coat and prebake

resist making it ready for
patterning.

Hfo2 260nm
Sio2 284nm

Hfo2 260nm

Silicon

18.Expose imaging resist

Tool: Mask aligner

KS MJB3-UV 400

Parameters: soft contact

exposure time 10 sec.

BSTO 234nm

pt 100 nm

Intention: To expose photo

resist according to the SiO 2
mask pattern

Sio2 284nm
Hfo2 260nm
Sio2 284nm
Hfo2 260nm
Sio2 284nm

Hfo2 260nm

Silicon

19.Develop the resist and

LOR

Tool: Wet bench

Parameters: Developer MF319 for 2 min

BSTO 234nm

pt 100 nm

Intention: To develop the

resist and LOR for SiO 2
sputtering.

Sio2 284nm
Hfo2 260nm
Sio2 284nm
Hfo2 260nm
Sio2 284nm
Hfo2 260nm

Silicon

57

20.Sio2 layer sputtering

Tool: FHR MS 150x4-L

Sputter Deposition system.
BSTO 234nm

Parameters:O2 and Si
combination for 429 sec.

pt 100 nm

Sio2 284nm
Hfo2 260nm

Intention: To deposit SiO2

layer on the sample.

Sio2 284nm

Hfo2 260nm
Sio2 284nm

Hfo2 260nm

Silicon

21.SiO2 Lift-off

Tool: Wet bench-Ultra sonic

bath

BSTO 234nm

pt 100 nm

Parameters: Microsit Remover

1165@750C for 5 min.
Ultra Sonic bath @%20 for 1
min.
Intention: To lift off SiO2 and
have the pattern of it.

Sio2 284nm
Hfo2 260nm
Sio2 284nm
Hfo2 260nm
Sio2 284nm
Hfo2 260nm

Silicon

22.Resist applying for image

reversal work(Gold layer)

Tool: Wet benchResist

spinner
BSTO 234nm

Parameters: Photo resist

S1813@4000 rpm for 30 sec.

pt 1 0 0 nm

Sio2 284nm
Hfo2 260nm
Sio2 284nm
Hfo2 260nm

Intention: To apply photo

resist for image reversal
exposure.

58

Sio2 284nm

Hfo2 260nm

Silicon

23.Exposure using inverted

mask

Tool: Mask aligner

KS MJB3-UV 400

Parameters: exposure time 6

sec

BSTO 234n m

pt 1 0 0 nm

Intention: to expose the

sample for Gold deposition
and patterning(the gold layer
finally remains at exposed
area)

Sio2 284nm
Hfo2 260nm

Sio2 284nm
Hfo2 260nm
Sio2 284nm
Hfo2 260nm

Silicon

24.Reversal bake

Tool: Hot plates

Parameters: 1250C for 2 min.

BSTO 234n m

pt 1 0 0 nm

Intention: To make the

exposed area inert while the
unexposed area remains photo
active.

Sio2 284nm
Hfo2 260nm
Sio2 284nm
Hfo2 260nm
Sio2 284nm

Hfo2 260nm

Silicon

25.Flood exposure without

mask

Tool: Mask aligner

KS MJB3-UV 400
Parameters: flood exposure
for 60 sec.

s oluble

BSTO 234nm

pt 1 0 0 nm

Intention: makes the resists,

which was not exposed at
previous step, soluble in
developer.

Sio2 284nm
Hfo2 260nm
Sio2 284nm
Hfo2 260nm

Sio2 284nm
Hfo2 260nm

Silicon

59

26.Developing

Tool: Wet bench

Parameters: Developer AZ
351 B for 1 min
BSTO 234nm

Intention: To develop the

resist according to the mask
pattern

pt 1 0 0 nm

Sio2 284nm
Hfo2 260nm
Sio2 284nm
Hfo2 260nm

Sio2 284nm
Hfo2 260nm

Silicon

27.Gold Deposition

Tool: AVAC E-beam

evaporator.
Parameters: 8.8 / sec to
reach 0.5 m gold thickness.
Intention: To deposit the Gold
layer on the sample.

BSTO 234nm

pt 1 0 0 nm

Sio2 284nm
Hfo2 260nm
Sio2 284nm
Hfo2 260nm

Sio2 284nm
Hfo2 260nm

Silicon

28.Lift-off

Tool: Wet bench

Parameters: Acetone @750 C
for 5 min.

BSTO 234nm

pt 100 nm

Sio2 284nm

Intention: To remove the extra

Gold and have the pattern on
the sample.

Hfo2 260nm
Sio2 284nm

Hfo2 260nm
Sio2 284nm

Hfo2 260nm

Silicon

60

29.Deposition of Aluminum
top electrode (same procedure
as the Sio2 Layer)

Tool: FHR MS 150x4-L

Parameter: Al deposition for
51 sec.
BSTO 234 n m

Intention: To deposit and

pattern the Al layer on the
sample.

pt 100 nm

Sio2 284nm

Hfo2 260nm
Sio2 284nm
Hfo2 260nm
Sio2 284nm
Hfo2 260nm

Silicon

61