Design of vertical transition for 40GHz transceiver module using LTCC technology

In this paper, we present design, implementation and measurement of 3-D mm-wave LTCC (low temperature co- fired ceramic) module with vertical transition through FR-4 PCB substrate. A new structure in order to transfer mm-wave signal from transceiver module through an opening in FR-4 PCB substrate to antenna with standard WR-22 waveguide port is proposed. The module features front-end, receiver and transmitter. The opening in FR-4 PCB substrate is of rectangular type, which has the same dimensions as a WR-22 waveguide. The edge of the opening is conductively plated with copper from top side to the bottom to reduce transmission losses. The implemented module is compact in size (32 times 28 times 3.3 mm ). Experimental results show a 1 dB compression output power of 15 dBm and noise figure of 9.72 dB at 40.5-41.5 GHz.