Antenna-in-Package (AiP) Using Through-Polymer Vias (TPVs) for a 122-GHz Radar Chip

• Published in: IEEE transactions on components, packaging, and manufacturing technology (2011) Vol. 12; no. 6; pp. 893 - 901
• Main Authors: Yi, Hengqian, Ozturk, Efe, Koelink, Marco, Krimmling, Jana, Damian, Andrei A., Debski, Wojciech, van Zeijl, H. W., Zhang, Guoqi, Poelma, Rene H.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Piscataway IEEE 01.06.2022; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: 013-μm silicon germanium bipolar complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (SiGe BiCMOS); Antenna arrays; Antennas; Constant false alarm rate; Electronic packaging; End milling; film-assisted molding (FAM); Functional testing; Integrated circuits; Mass production; metalized polymer; Millimeter waves; monostatic frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) radar; patch antennas; Polymers; Radar; radar antenna-in-package (AiP); Radar antennas; Radar equipment; SU-8; Substrates; system-in-package (SiP); through-polymer via (TPV); Wires
• ISSN: 2156-3950; 2156-3985
• DOI: 10.1109/TCPMT.2022.3172618

High-performance IC-to-antenna interconnection is one of the key enablers for the mass production of high-end millimeter wave (mmW) radar systems above 100 GHz. In this work, a radar system with an on-package antenna array working at 122 GHz is presented. The antenna is placed on top of the molded package and the antenna-to-chip interconnection is realized by through-polymer via (TPV) technology. The detailed fabrication process of the radar antenna-in-package (AiP) with TPV is discussed. The results from the functional tests of the radar AiP are presented and benchmarked to a commercial quad-flat no-leads (QFN) package with an open antenna cavity. The detection margin between the echo signal and the constant false alarm rate (CFAR) threshold is approximately 10 dB higher for the TPV radar AiP compared with the benchmarked commercial QFN package.