SBIR Phase I: Micro-Coax Manufacturability Study

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)Phase I research project is aimed at advancing the capability to create high bandwidth interconnects for increasingly higher frequency digital and analog electronics systems. The technology is applicable to printed circuit board, as well as device-level interconnects. The proposed innovation applies conformal coating of polymeric and lithographically defined metallic layers onto conventional wire bonds to produce coaxial interconnect structures. As compared to conventional wire bonds, the resulting micro-coaxes have bandwidths improved by more than an order of magnitude, cross-talk nearly eliminated, impedance matched, and phase distortion significantly reduced. The objective of the current phase is to advance the micro-coax from the current laboratory prototype stage, toward volume manufacturability. To accomplish the objective, improved understanding of the dielectric coating processes, via generation, and lithography steps is needed. Further evaluation of the transition from board-level to device-level is needed. Geometry and materials limitations on performance must be better understood. The goal of the research is to establish certain desirable performance milestones for the technology. Such milestones include demonstration of parallel interconnects with 100+ GHz bandwidth, better than 0.5 dB/cm loss, 300 um center-to-center spacing, and >40 dB isolation. If successful the ability to create micro-coax capabilities n would lead to high bandwidth, high frequency interconnects for semiconductor industries as well as testing and assembly industries. Optical communications protocols, which pass data at 40Gbit/sec, requiring 20GHz fundamental frequencies, and even higher frequency overtones for accurate signal reproduction will need semiconductor products that support coaxial-like transmission rates. Today's ICs are becoming millimeter-wave devices and will stall without packaging and interconnect innovation. The proposed micro-coax offers bandwidth from DC to 100GHz and beyond with a very small form factor. Microcoaxes will also have significant impact on IC associated industries. IC probing, test, and assembly industries will be stimulated by infusion of new technological solutions.