Study of On Chip Multi-Interconnect Spiral Inductor in Silicon RF Integrated Circuit

• Main Authors: Chih-Yuan Wu, 吳至原
• Other Authors: Ching-Lieh Li
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2001
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/17768037168416375158

碩士 === 淡江大學 === 電機工程學系 === 89 === In this thesis, the characteristics of planar spiral inductors on RFIC silicon substrate are studied. Since the operating frequency of RF CMOS is in the lower band of microwave range (1~3GHz), the required inductance value is relatively large practically, while the resonate frequency must be kept higher than the operating frequency range. The quality factor, inductance value and resonate frequency is fully investigated for various structures with the same chip area in our study. Using a full wave electromagnetic simulator, we are able to observe the performance of different inductor structures on various lossy silicon substrates. A multilevel interconnect structure is constructed by using a bulk via to connect the metal strips on different layers such that the wire ohmic loss is reduced and the quality factor is improved. A multiple current path structure is proposed to reducing the current crowding effect on metal strips, especially in the center area, such that the wire ohmic loss is reduced and the quality factor is improved, too. A spiral array structure is invented to reduce the magnetic field into the lossy silicon substrate such that the substrate loss is reduced and the quality factor is improved. On the other hand, some of the inductors are implemented using the TSMC 0.6um CMOS process through the help of CIC center. The scattering parameters are measured and de-embedded and the results are discussed.