Advancement of back-side processes for mm-wave integrated circuits

在汽车雷达、成像、5G、安全等应用的推动下，对能够在毫米波下高效运行的高频电路的需求呈爆炸式增长。从制造的角度来看，更高的工作频率要求减小集成电路的尺寸以保持寄生效应处于控制之下。对于垂直集成仍然有限的III-V族技术，这意味着需要减少元件之间的x-y距离和寄生效应的影响。只有当后端处理步骤跟随顶层处理的推进时，才能实现这一点。必须保证所制造的特征（如通孔）足够小，并且制造公差严格，以避免重叠和损坏顶侧特征。该项目由世界领先的背面加工机械供应商提供支持，专注于提高SiC衬底的背面加工，这是高性能的首选解决方案，工作在毫米波范围内的高效率集成电路。该项目还将探索硅基片的应用。候选人将在大学和公司的前提下进行新工艺的实验，并优化机器参数和加工步骤。此外，所获得的结构的表征（形态学和电学）将用于评估所开发技术的进展。

There is an explosion of demand for high frequency circuits able to perform efficiently at mm-wave, driven by applications such as automotive radar, imaging, 5G, security. From a manufacturing point of view, higher frequency of operation requires to decrease the dimensions of integrated circuit to keep under control the parasitic effects. For III-V technologies, where vertical integration is still limited, this means prevalently to reduce the x-y distance between components and the impact of parasitics. This can be achieved only if the back-side processing steps follow the advancement of the top-level processing. It is necessary to guarantee that the features fabricated, such as via holes, are small enough and the fabrication tolerances are tight to avoid overlapping and damaging of the top-side features.This project, supported by a world leader provider of backside processing machinery, focusses on the advancement of back-side processing for SiC substrates, which are the preferred solution for high performance, high efficiency integrated circuits working in the mm-wave range. The project will potentially also explore the application to Si substrates.The candidate will work both in the University and company premises to experiment new procedure and optimize the machine parameters and processing steps. Also, characterization (morphological and electrical) of the obtained structure will be used to assess the progress of the technique developed.