Integrated inductors on liquid crystal polymer substrate for RF applications

Purpose To investigate the fabrication of integrated inductors on a liquid crystal polymer (LCP) substrate. To analyze the RF performance of the integrated inductors. Design/methodology/approach Fabrication of integrated inductors on a LCP substrate using an MCM‐D/L technique. A lumped element model of the integrated inductors is proposed. An analytical approach is used to extract the parameters in the model. Findings Integrated inductors on a LCP substrate have been fabricated using an MCM‐D/L technique. The conductor loss of the thin microstrip lines is the major factor degrading the Q ‐value of the integrated inductors. A lumped element model of the integrated inductor is proposed. The parameters of the lumped element model can be extracted from the geometry of the integrated inductor. Further work will focus on increasing the conductor thickness from 500 nm to 5 μ m. Originality/value The value of the paper lies in its description of the integration of inductors on a LCP substrate. It also describes how to extract parameters of the lumped element model of the integrated inductors from the geometry.