A MILLIMETER WAVE IC WAFER PROBE WITH A BUILT-IN VECTOR NETWORK ANALYZER

NETWORK ANALYZER SYSTEMS CURRENTLY USED TO EVALUATE MILLIMETER WAVE INTEGRATED CIRCUITS ARE DESIGNED TO MAKE MEASUREMENTS IN COAXIAL CABLE OR RECTANGULAR WAVEGUIDE. THE NECESSITY OF MAKING A TRANSITION FROM THESE TYPES OF WAVEGUIDES TO ON-CHIP PLANAR WAVEGUIDES TO MEASURE MMICS GIVES RISE TO PROBLEMS OF MODE CONVERSION. A RECENT INVENTION BY THE AUTHORS ALLOWS ALL THE COMPONENTS OF A VECTOR NETWORK ANALYZER TO BE INTEGRATED ON A SINGLE CHIP, USING A PLANAR TRANSMISSION LINE OF THE SAME TYPE AS THAT TO BE MEASURED. THIS APPROACH SHOWS PROMISE FOR GREATLY REDUCING MODE CONVERSION PROBLEMS AND YIELDING A POWERFUL YET INEXPENSIVE BROADBAND VECTOR NETWORK ANALYZER FOR MMIC PROBING SYSTEMS. WE PROPOSE A SYSTEM IN WHICH WAFER PROBES WOULD BE CONSTRUCTED WITH A VECTOR NETWORK ANALYZER INTEGRATED INTO EACH PROBE. OUR FEASIBILITY STUDY WILL CONCENTRATE ON A COPLANAR WAVEGUIDE IMPLEMENTATION, BUT THE PROBES COULD BE BUILT USING ANY DESIRED PLANAR TRANSMISSION LINE, TO MATCH THAT OF THE IC BEING MEASURED IN IMPEDANCE AND DIMENSIONS.