QUARTZ/FUSED SILICA CHIP CARRIERS

THE RAPIDLY GROWING USE OF GAAS MMIC'S (MICROWAVE MONOLITHIC INTEGRATED CIRCUITS) IN SPACE, DEFENSE, AND COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS HAS CREATED THE NEED FOR PACKAGING TECHNOLOGY TO MAINTAIN PACE WITH SEMI-CONDUCTOR TECHNOLOGY. CURRENTLY PRODUCED CHIP CARRIERS ARE NOT CAPABLE OF OPERATING AT THE HIGH FREQUENCIES (KA BAND AND ABOVE) DEMANDED BY MANY SYSTEMS UNDER DEVELOPMENT. A CHIP CARRIER MANUFACTURED FROM QUARTZ/FUSED SILICA POTENTIALLY OFFERS MANY TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANTAGES OVER THOSE OF CERAMIC AND METAL. THE OBJECTIVE OF THE PROPOSED PROJECTIS TWOFOLD: 1) TO PROVE THE MANUFACTURABILITY OF A QUARTZ/SILICA PACKAGE; AND 2) TO PROVE THE THESIS THAT THESEPACKAGES EXCEED THE PERFORMANCE CAPABILITIES OF TODAY'S PRODUCTS. THE WORK WILL CONSIST OF: 1) TESTING THE RAW MATERIAL; 2) EXPERIMENTING WITH METHODS OF FABRICATION; 3) PRODUCING PROTOTYPES IN CURRENTLY USED PACKAG CONFIGURATIONS; AND 4) ELECTRICALLY AND MECHANICALLY TESTING THESE PROTOTYPES.