Assembly and Electrical Tolerance Analysis for Silicon-IC-to-Waveguide Integration using a Contactless Transition at mm-Wave Frequencies

Paper in proceeding, 2024

This paper analyses the impact of assembly, process, voltage and temperature variations on the performance of a 4-channel power amplifier integrated into a waveguide with a direct waveguide-to-IC contactless transition. The paper reports on modeling methodology and presents simulation results of the impact of the variations on the performance of the waveguide-integrated power amplifier. Based on simulated results, the most influential parameters from the assembly tolerances and electrical variations are identified. The paper emphasizes incorporating packaging and integration considerations in co-design at mm-Wave frequencies. The S-parameter results incorporating the tolerances and variations show a resonance detuning (85 GHz) and impedance bandwidth shift (from 74-81 GHz to 70-74 GHz) in S11, and a reduction in S21 overall (E-band) and peak magnitude at 85 GHz (∼11 dB to ∼1 dB).