Metal-Isolator-Metal Varactor Based on Inkjet-Printed Tunable Ceramics

Conference: GeMiC 2014 - German Microwave Conference
03/10/2014 - 03/12/2014 at Aachen, Germany

Proceedings: GeMiC 2014

Pages: 4Language: englishTyp: PDF

Personal VDE Members are entitled to a 10% discount on this title

Authors:
Nikfalazar, Mohammad; Sazegar, Mohsen; Zheng, Yuliang; Wiens, Alex; Jakoby, Rolf (Technische Universitaet Darmstadt, Microwave Engineering, Merckstr. 25, 64283 Darmstadt, Germany)
Friederich, Andreas; Kohler, Christian; Binder, Joachim R. (Institute for Applied Materials (IAM-WPT), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz 1, 76344 Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany)

Abstract:
This paper presents a new method for the fabrication of tunable multilayer components based on inkjet printing. Inkjet printing is a low-cost technology for selective film fabrication and has a high potential for the preparation of tunable dielectric layers. Exemplary tunable metal-isolator-metal (MIM) capacitors composed of inkjet-printed Barium-Strontium-Titanate (BST) and photolithographically structured metallic electrodes. Compared to coplanar capacitors, such varactors require significantly lower DC-voltage for tuning. By applying 20V across 1um-thick BST film, a tunability of 37% is achieved at 10GHz. The low-cost inkjet printing technology has shown a high potential for the preparation of tunable dielectric thick-films.