RF/microwave device fabrication in silicon-on-glass technology

This paper reviews recent developments in circuit and device implementations based on back-wafer contacted silicon-on-glass (SOG) substrate-transfer technology (STT). This technology has been specifically developed for the enhancement of silicon RF and microwave device and circuit performance. While metal transmission lines can be placed on the low-loss glass substrate, the resistive and capacitive parasitics of the silicon devices can also be minimized by a direct contacting of the parts of the devices that are usually connected via the bulk Si. Focus is placed here on the device level aspects of the SOG process, in particular high-quality varactors for high-linearity adaptive circuits and complementary bipolar device integration are treated in relationship to new developments in back-wafer contacting and the integration of AlN heatspreaders.