BCB-bridged distributed wideband SPST switch using 0.25-μm In_0.5Al_0.5As-In_0.5Ga_0.5As metamorphic HEMTs

In_0.5Al_0.5As-In_0.5Ga_0.5As metamorphic high-electron mobility transistor (mHEMT) dc-30 GHz distributed single-pole-single through (SPST) switches were designed and fabricated using the low-Κ benzocyclobutene (BCB) bridged technology. The current gain cutoff frequency, and the electron transit time of In_0.5Al_0.5As-In_0.5Ga _0.5As mHEMTs have been investigated. By analyzing the extrinsic total delay time, the effective velocity of electrons can be estimated, and the average velocity is 2.3 × 10⁷ cm/s. The dc-30 GHz distributed wideband SPST switch exhibits an insertion loss of less than 5.5 dB, and an isolation larger than 30 dB, which is the first demonstration of the high-isolation of InAlAs-InGaAs mHEMTs monolithic switch. As to the power performance, this switch can handle the power up to 12 dBm at 2.4 GHz. After over 250 h of 85-85 (temperature = 85 °C, humidity = 85%) environmental evaluation, this BCB passivated and bridged microwave and monolithic integrated circuit switch demonstrates reliable RF characteristics without any significant performance change, which proves that this process using the low-Κ BCB layer is attractive for millimeter-wave circuit applications.