A Multistep DRIE Process for Complex Terahertz Waveguide Components

A silicon deep reactive-ion etching (DRIE) process has been developed, using multiple SiO 2 masks to enable multidepth waveguide features with ±2% tolerance. The unique capability of this process is demonstrated by designing, fabricating, and testing an orthomode transducer working in the 500-600 GH...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:IEEE transactions on terahertz science and technology 2016-09, Vol.6 (5), p.690-695
Main Authors: Jung-Kubiak, Cecile, Reck, Theodore J., Siles, Jose V., Lin, Robert, Choonsup Lee, Gill, John, Cooper, Ken, Mehdi, Imran, Chattopadhyay, Goutam
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Deep reactive-ion etching (DRIE)
Etching
Frequency ranges
Loss measurement
Metals
orthomode transducer (OMT)
Packages
Quadratures
Resists
Silicon
silicon dioxide (SiO2)
silicon micromachining
submillimeter waves
terahertz (THz)
Tolerances
Transducers
Waveguide components
Waveguides
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Summary:A silicon deep reactive-ion etching (DRIE) process has been developed, using multiple SiO 2 masks to enable multidepth waveguide features with ±2% tolerance. The unique capability of this process is demonstrated by designing, fabricating, and testing an orthomode transducer working in the 500-600 GHz frequency range. Straight waveguide measurements are also performed to characterize the losses associated with the multistep DRIE process, giving results slightly better than expected for metal-machined waveguides. This process enables the integration of multiple terahertz waveguide components such as mixers, multipliers, quadrature hybrids, and polarization twists onto a single silicon package.
ISSN:2156-342X
2156-3446
DOI:10.1109/TTHZ.2016.2593793