Fully Depleted SOI Technology for Millimeter-Wave Integrated Circuits

Abstract

Performances of high-frequency integrated circuits are directly linked to the analog and high frequency characteristics of the transistors, the quality of the back-end of line process as well as the electromagnetic properties of the substrate. Today, Partially Depleted Silicon-on-Insulator (SOI) MOSFET is the mainstream technology for RF SOI systems. Fully Depleted (FD) SOI MOSFET is foreseen as one of the most promising candidates for the development of future lower power wireless communication systems operating in the millimeter-wave range. The high frequency performances of FD SOI transistors are presented at room but also at cryogenic and high temperature. Recently published results for FD SOI switches and low noise amplifiers are summarized. And finally, the potential interest and challenges to move from standard to high resistivity FD SOI substrates are discussed.

Keywords

• RF CMOS
• silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technology
• fully depleted (FD) SOI transistor
• RF and millimeter-wave performance
• high temperature
• cryogenic temperature