LOW LOSS MILLIMETER-WAVE SEMICONDUCTOR WAFER PROBES

MAKING ACCURATE AUTOMATED ON-WAFER MEASUREMENTS OF MILLIMETER-WAVE SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES AND CIRCUIT ELEMENTS IS A FUNDAMENTAL REQUIREMENT FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF A MILLIMETER-WAVE TECHNOLOGY. MILLIMETER-WAVE WAFER PROBE DEVELOPMENT IS REQUIRED. PRESENTLY ON-WAFER PROBING IS AVAILABLE ONLY TO 26.5 GHZ. HOWEVER, SIGNIFICANT INNOVATIONS ARE REQUIRED TO EXTEND THIS CAPABILITY OF HIGHER FREQUENCIES. THIS WORK INVESTIGATES THE FEASIBILITY OF OVERCOMING WAFER PROBE INSERTION LOSS PROBLEMS IN THE MILLIMETER-WAVE BANDS. PHASE I RESULTS IN PROTOTYPES OF DC TO 50 GHZ WAFER PROBES WITH LESS THAN 2 DB INSERTION LOSS FOR THE MEASUREMENT OF ACTIVE MILLIMETER-WAVE DEVICES ON-WAFER. THESE RESULTS WILL PROVIDE A BASIS FOR MILLIMETER-WAVE NOISE FIGURE AND DYNAMIC RANGE MEASUREMENTS IN LATER WORK.