Micromachined on-wafer probes

• Published in: 2010 IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium pp. 65 - 68
• Main Authors: Reck, Theodore J, Lihan Chen, Chunhu Zhang, Groppi, Christopher, Haiyong Xu, Arsenovic, Alex, Barker, N Scott, Lichtenberger, Arthur, Weikle, Robert M
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: IEEE 01-05-2010
• Subjects: Contact resistance; CPW; Electrical resistance measurement; Electromagnetic measurements; Electromagnetic waveguides; Flanges; Force measurement; micro-machining; On-wafer probes; Optical device fabrication; Probes; Silicon; waveguide; Wavelength measurement
• ISBN: 1424460565; 9781424460564
• ISSN: 0149-645X; 2576-7216
• DOI: 10.1109/MWSYM.2010.5517580

A micromachined on-wafer probe is designed, fabricated and measured at W-Band as a proof of concept for probes operating at sub-millimeter wavelengths. A fabrication process is developed to create devices that combine a waveguide probe with a GSG probe tip on a 15 μm silicon substrate. This device is housed in a metal machined waveguide block that provides mechanical support for the probe and connection to a waveguide flange. Load-cell measurements show a DC contact resistance below 0.07 Ω with a force of 1 mN. A two-tier TRL calibration characterizes the operation of the electromagnetic design and an insertion loss of 1.75 dB is achieved; this is comparable with commercial probes operating in the same band.