Infrared Physics & Technology 63 (2014) 157–164

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Infrared Physics & Technology

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/infrared

Design and VNA-measurement of coplanar waveguide (CPW)

on benzocyclobutene (BCB) at THz frequencies
Lei Cao, Anne-Sophie Grimault-Jacquin ⇑, Nicolas Zerounian, Frédéric Aniel
Institut d’Electronique Fondamentale CNRS UMR 8622, Université Paris-Sud Bât. 220, 91405 Orsay cedex, France

h i g h l i g h t s

 Modeling, realization and measurement of THz coplanar waveguide (CPW) on benzocyclobutene (BCB).
 Determination of dispersion and losses of CPW on BCB in THz frequency range.
 Accurate de-embedding by optimization of the accesses’ model of S-parameters of 50 ohms design of CPW on BCB.
 Comparison of results from VNA characterization with numerical data.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The low permittivity and the low loss tangent of the benzocyclobutene polymer (BCB) offers to coplanar
Received 5 September 2013 waveguides (CPW) a low dispersive propagation properties at THz frequency. These transmission lines
Available online 3 January 2014 have been designed, modeled with a three dimensional (3D) solver of Maxwell equations based on finite
element method (FEM) from 20 to 1000 GHz at various characteristic impedances (Zc). Their dispersion
Keywords: and losses (radiation, conduction and dielectric) have been investigated separately versus the waveguide
Benzocyclobutene (BCB) size, the nature of the substrate (dielectric or semiconductor) to optimize the THz signal propagation.
Coplanar waveguide (CPW)
Monomode CPW on BCB numerically designed for various Zc were realized and measured with vector net-
Terahertz (THz)
Dispersion
work analyzer (VNA). S-parameters of CPW are de-embedded by optimization of the accesses’ model. A
Losses and VNA characterization good agreement is found between experimental and numerical results with low attenuation constants of
2.7 dB/mm and 3.5 dB/mm at 400 GHz and 500 GHz, respectively.
Ó 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction influenced by the waveguide dimensions, substrate properties

Different types of planar waveguide have been studied in the
terahertz (THz) frequency range: microstrip [1–3], coplanar wave-
guide (CPW) [4,5], coplanar stripline (CPS) [4,6,7], slotline [8,9] and
planar Goubau line [10]. The question of the best waveguide in this
frequency range is still open. Compared with other waveguides,
CPW makes easy the connection with a field effect transistor
(FET) or a photoconductive (PC) switch, where the ground needs
to be placed close to the device. The most convenience is to operate
in shunt or series configurations. Via/holes are not required. The
major drawback of CPW is the unintentional excitation of the par-
asitic slotline (SL) mode, which can be attenuated by employing
air-bridges (AB) [11] or by maintaining the structural symmetry
to limit its excitation [12].
The attenuation of CPW can be divided into three parts: radia-
tion (aR), conduction (aC) and dielectric (aD) losses. They are
⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +33 169155083.
E-mail address: anne-sophie.grimault@u-psud.fr (A.-S. Grimault-Jacquin).
and the conductor quality. In the quasi-static approximation, the
radiation loss is proportional to the cube of the frequency and in-
creases with the substrate permittivity [13]. It was demonstrated
experimentally that the radiation loss dominates the total attenu-
ation for frequencies higher than 200 GHz in the case of wave-
guides of several tens of microns wide [14]. The radiation loss
can be reduced using low permittivity substrate, like BCB. Its weak
permittivity (2.4 at 1 THz) and low loss tangent (7–9  103 at 1
THz) make this polymer very attractive for THz applications
[15,16]. In [16], the attenuation of microstrip on thin 5.4 lm thick
BCB film with characteristic impedance Zc = 70 X was measured to
4 dB/mm at 1 THz. Here BCB thicker films (few tens microns) are
investigated for CPW. This polymer is compatible with semicon-
ductors and metals and it can be easily deposited by spin coating.
The use of BCB substrate to optimize THz propagation occurs as
very interesting notably to replace semiconductor substrate such
as InP as in [17] for THz photoconductive switch applications. In
[17], the THz transmission is argued for CPW with a fixed central
ribbon S1 equals to 10 lm and three different gaps W to ground

1350-4495/$ - see front matter Ó 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.infrared.2013.12.023
158 L. Cao et al. / Infrared Physics & Technology 63 (2014) 157–164
ribbons: 1.6, 6.6 and 12 lm whose Zc is 33, 50 and 66 X at 20 GHz,
respectively. The influence of the gap W on the dispersion relation
and on the attenuation constant is studied and it is shown that the
waveguide with W = 12 lm present the highest radiation losses
(aR = 5 dB/mm). Among the all losses, it is aR which mainly accen-
tuate the total losses. Radiation is particularly interesting in for
antennas but not for the optimization of the THz signal transmis-
sion. Consequently, an analysis of the dispersion and the losses
of CPW on BCB is needed and investigated in this paper numeri-
cally for frequencies between 20 and 1000 GHz and experimentally
between 340 and 500 GHz. For comparison purpose, CPW on BCB
kept the same dimensions than in [17]. But, it should be notified
that due to its lower permittivity than InP, Zc of CPW on BCB gives
higher values at 20 GHz: 73, 102 and 123 X for W of 1.6, 6.6 and
12 lm, respectively. Thus, in order to compare the influence of
the substrate for close Zc, only the results with W = 12 lm for
CPW on InP are reported on the attenuation plots and thus com-
pared with the narrow CPW on BCB. Section 2 reminds the dimen-
sional parameters of CPW used for modeling performed with
ANSOFT HFSS [18] and the strategy to separate each kind of losses.
The dispersion and the losses of CPW on BCB are presented and dis-
cussed as a function of the conductor gap width W. The optimiza-
tion of the performances of CPW on BCB and notably the reduction
of the radiation losses through different possibilities, for example
by adding air-bridges (AB) across the CPW by limiting the SL mode
propagation as cited in [17] or by adding a backside conductor (BC)
as talked over and briefly illustrated here. In Section 3, a comple-
mentary study is performed for CPW on BCB redesigned for
Zc = 50 X and for two other impedances close to 80 X However,
to achieve 50 X on BCB with S1 of ten microns, the gap should be
narrow (W = 0.4 lm) and the technological realization becomes
thus more difficult by optical lithography. This limitation can be
overcome by increasing simultaneously S1 and W. Such 50 X
CPW on BCB has been designed, modeled with ANSOFT HFSS [18]
and compared with structure with various dimensions for the
same impedance. Each configuration has been also technologically
realized and characterized experimentally with a VNA. Both fabri-
cation steps of CPW on BCB and the de-embedding technique are
detailed in Section 3 together with the comparison of the 3D
numerical with the experimental results.
2. CPW on BCB substrate for different Zc
2.1. CPW structure
Fig. 1 shows the conventional CPW structure with a gold central
ribbon and two gold ground planes on a dielectric substrate. The
nominal dimensional parameters used in this study are the ribbon
width S1 = 10 lm, the ground plane width S2 is 24 lm and the gap
WBCB = 1.6, 6.6 and 12 lm. The simulated waveguide length L is
1 mm and conductors are 500 nm thick (t). The substrate thickness
H is assumed to be infinite using a perfect match layer (PML)
around the whole structure. Technologically, a 30 lm thick BCB
layer is used and it appeared high enough with a negligible impact
of the silicon substrate for supporting the waveguide. In [17], InP
thickness is 80 lm for comparison.
Fig. 1. Typical CPW structure with dimensions used in the simulation.
2.2. Dispersions and losses
To study separately the origin of each loss, the properties of the
substrate and of the metallic strips are tuned according to values
listed in Table 1. For a direct calculation of the attenuation constant
aR due to radiation losses and the conductor is assumed to be quasi
electrical perfect (PEC) with a metallic conductivity fixed to the ex-
tremely high value of 1010 S/m. The real parts (er) of the relative
dielectric permittivity of the BCB and the InP substrates are respec-
tively 2.42 and 12.5 and the loss tangent are set to zero. A finite
conductivity equal to rAu = 4.1  107 S/m (very good quality) is as-
signed to the gold (Au) conductor for the evaluation of conduction
loss (aC). For the dielectric loss (aD), the loss tangent of BCB is fixed
at 0.007. The loss tangent of InP is frequency-dependent with
(tan d)InP = rInP/(eInPe0x), where e0 is the vacuum permittivity and
rInP = 2.4 S/m is the conductivity of the semi-insulating InP (critical
case). In the total losses (aT = aR + aD + aC), all contributions of con-
ductors and the dielectric are included. The dispersions and losses
in CPW on BCB and on InP are thus compared with the variation of
the gap in the next sections.
2.2.1. Modal dispersions
The dispersion curves underline the relationship between each
propagation constant b and the excitation signal frequency (f or x
for all the modes supported by the structure. They highlight also
the possibility of coupling between two different modes (for in-
stance, between the CPW and SL modes or/and between the CPW
mode and substrate wave or surface waves in the dielectric) and
thereby their non-negligible contribution to the radiation losses.
Fig. 2 shows the dispersions of the two dominant modes (CPW
and SL) for CPW with WBCB = 6.6 lm and for the free transverse
electromagnetic (TEM) propagating wave in the bulk substrate
p
ðb ¼ 2pf er =cÞ.
For CPW on BCB, the CPW dispersion curve does not intersect
with the SL one even at 3 THz as shown in Fig. 2 reducing the pos-
sibility of a modal leakage power to the substrate. This advantage
is lost for the CPW on InP for the same dimension [17]. In this case,
the dispersion curves of the SL mode and the CPW mode intersect
at 0.6 THz, predicting the onset of energy exchange.
The coupling efficiency between the two propagating modes
can be calculated with the coefficient C based on the field overlap
integral [19]:
R
0:5 ð~ E1  H ~2 þ ~ E2  H ~1 Þ  d~ S
C ¼ qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi ð1Þ
jðE1  H1 Þ  dSjjðE2  H2 Þ  d~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Sj
where d~ S is the surface normal vector in the propagation direction,
subscripts 1 and 2 indicate the two interacting electric (E) and mag-
netic (H) fields. The coupling coefficient is between 0 and 1 and a
large value stands for strong coupling. Thus, C is very low with
0.0008 at 1.5 THz for CPW on BCB, while C equals 0.2764 at
0.6 THz for CPW on InP.
Whatever the substrate, the phase velocity (m = x/b) of the CPW
mode is always greater than the one of the TEM wave in the sub-
strate. As the consequence, the CPW mode becomes uncondition-
ally leaky. This feature can be explained as an electromagnetic
shock wave [13] into the substrate where the CPW mode loses
Table 1
Dielectric and metallic parameters in the calculation of different losses.
Losses rAu (S/m) rInP (S/m) (tan d)BCB
aR 1010 0 0
aR + aC 4.1  107 0 0
aR + aD 1010 2.4 0.007
aT = aR + aD + a C 4.1  107 2.4 0.007
 L. Cao et al. / Infrared Physics & Technology 63 (2014) 157–164 159

3000 where eeff is the effective permittivity of CPW mode.

These analytic expressions are suitable at low frequency (some
2500 ten up to hundred GHz) but the validity domain of these analytical
SL models is an open question in the THz range [17]. Here, a strategy
TEM BCB
2000
to investigate the losses separately is proposed. Three dimensional
f (GHz)

1500 (3D) numerical calculations which are undeniably essential [17,21]

are used to treat the losses in higher order frequency ranges and
CPW
1000 presented in the next sections where analytic curves have been
superimposed on each plot to be compared.
500

0 2.2.2.1. Radiation loss aR. Fig. 3 plots the attenuation due to radia-
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 tion loss aR in dB/mm as a function of the frequency for different
β (mm-1) gaps W. As previously explained by the low value of the coupling
coefficient C or of the radiation angle W, radiation loss for CPW
Fig. 2. Dispersion curves for CPW on BCB WBCB = 6.6 lm calculated with Ansoft on BCB is lower than the one on InP. For example, at 1 THz,
HFSS.
aRBCB = 0.97 dB/mm and aRInP = 5 dB/mm for the same gap
its energy within a semi-cone of angle of W (Eq. (2)) leading to W = 12 lm. Beginning at fc = 400 GHz, aR in CPW on InP follows a
additional radiation losses. This angle is determined by the Ceren- cubic frequency dependence, while fc is pushed to 700 GHz for
kov radiation condition [20], CPW on BCB. When the gap W extends, the semi-cone radiation
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffi volume expands thereby increasing aR value. Concretely, by
bCPW vS eeff switching from the InP substrate to the BCB substrate decreases
cos W ¼ ¼ ¼ pffiffiffiffi ð2Þ
bS v CPW er losses from 80% for W = 6.6 and 12 lm. For a value of Zc close to
where m is the phase velocity for the substrate (S) and the guided 70 X (WInP = 12 lm for InP and WBCB = 1.6 lm for BCB), radiation
mode (CPW) respectively. eeff and er, are the effective and relative losses are 25 times lower (a diminution of aR of 96%) with BCB be-
permittivities of the CPW and the substrate. Higher the value of side InP.
W is, larger the radiation into the substrate is also. At 1 THz, The analytic Eq. (3) with eeff = (1 + er)/2 (for a non dispersive
W = 33.87° for CPW mode on BCB and 40.62° for CPW mode on CPW) is also reported in Fig. 3 for WBCB = 6.6 lm for CPW on BCB
InP, showing that CPW mode radiates less into BCB than InP at substrates. As one can see, it strongly underestimates the loss,
the same frequency and for similar waveguide dimensions. More- especially in the case of high dispersive waveguide. Therefore, 3D
over, CPW is quasi-monomode on a large frequency range up to modeling of waveguide is necessary and more appropriate to well
1200 GHz (the SL mode is negligible under this frequency). This is define THz radiation losses.
a very interesting property. Indeed, this avoids also the potential Through their behavior, radiation losses aR mainly dominate the
addition of air-bridges across the standard CPW structure to limit total attenuation at high frequencies. A way to address this con-
the parasitic SL mode propagation by complicating the technologi- straint is to modify the nominal configuration of the CPW by add-
cal realization. ing a backside conductor (BC) notably when the ground ribbon are
no longer considered as infinite. BC corresponds to a metal layer
2.2.2. Losses deposited on the backside of the BCB layer and it is applied to a
Losses have been already described in previous publications by standard CPW structure (Fig. 1) with S2 = 24 lm as in [17]. It allows
analytic expressions as defined below in an ideal CPW within cer- to confine the electromagnetic (EM) field in the dielectric and to
tain approximations in microwave range (at low frequencies) [22]. isolate the device from other components which can be localized
Their expressions are listed below as a reminder. in adjacent layers. The conductor backed CPW is widely used in
The radiation loss aR of an ideal CPW has been estimated with interconnect and packaging structure.
[4]: Fig. 4 shows aR of CPW with and without BC for W = 12 lm,
where the radiation loss is the most important in the conventional
2
ð1  ðcos WÞ2 Þ ðS1 þ 2WÞ2 er3=2 3 coplanar waveguide. The thickness of the BC layer t is 500 nm and
aR ¼ 0:1661  f ð3Þ
then the one of the BCB layer H is 30 lm as used for the technolog-
cos W c3 KðkÞK 0 ðkÞ
ical realization.
where K and K0 are the first and second kinds of the complete ellip-
tic integrals depending on the dimensional factor k = S1/(S1 + 2 W), c
the light celerity and f the frequency.
Under quasi-static approximations, the conduction loss aC can
be calculated [22]:
 
P0 S1
aC ¼ 4:88  107 Rs eeff Z c 1þ
pW W
4pS1
1 þ 1:25t 1:25
pS1 þ p ln t
  ð4Þ
S1 4pS1 2
2þW  1:25t
pW ð1 þ ln t Þ

where P0 is a geometry dependent parameter described with elliptic

integrals [22], Rs is the surface resistance of the conductor and Zc the
characteristic impedance.
And finally, the dielectric losses aD at low frequency (low dis-
persion) can be approximated by [22]:
er eeff  1 tan d
aD ¼ 2:73  102 pffiffiffiffiffiffiffi f ð5Þ Fig. 3. Comparison of the radiation loss aR for CPW on BCB with WBCB = 1.6, 6.6 and
er  1 eeff c 12 lm and on InP with WInP = 12 lm calculated with Ansoft HFSS.
160 L. Cao et al. / Infrared Physics & Technology 63 (2014) 157–164
Fig. 4. Influences of backside conductor (BC) on the radiation loss aR for CPW on
30 lm thick BCB (L = 1 mm) for WBCB = 12 lm calculated with Ansoft HFSS.
If the resonant frequencies induced by the BC are ignored, the
radiation loss aR are reduced almost by half with BC, notably at
840 GHz where aR = 0.38 dB/mm, while it was 0.68 dB/mm with-
out BC. This benefit can be explained by the reduction of the phase
velocity of the CPW mode and then the decrease of the radiation
angle W from 32.61° to 31.73° in presence of BC.
But this advantage only exists in very narrow frequency bands
between two resonances. The occurrence of such resonances is
the consequence of parallel plate modes resulting from the cavity
between the top ground plane and the bottom BC [27,28]. If the
finite CPW length (L) and the width of the ground plane (S2) are
considered, the resonant frequencies fmn can be predicted by [28]:
sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
 2  2
c mp np
fmn ¼ pffiffiffiffi þ ð6Þ
2p er S2 L
where m and n are the half wave number of EM field in the width
and length direction, respectively. In Fig. 4, the length L is 1 mm,
while S2 need to be fixed and it equals to 24 lm. First low frequency
resonances occur for low value of m and n, and reciprocally for lar-
ger L or S2. With L larger than S2, the first resonance corresponds to
m = 0, simplifying the relation (Eq. (6)) to a L-dependence only, al-
most each 100 GHz with L = 1 mm. At these resonance frequencies,
the propagation of the CPW mode is largely weakened reducing the
benefit on frequency bands of about 50 GHz wide. Moreover, an
additional conduction loss in BC (0.7 dB at 1 THz) can cause the in-
crease of aT. Several methods have been proposed to eliminate res-
onances at several GHz. A solution is to place via/holes along the
outer and inner edges of the ground planes where the electric field
is maximum [29], or with different shapes of slots in the ground
planes [30]. However, these methods are not efficient to exclude
completely all resonances in the sub-millimeter wave or THz fre-
quency range. These via/holes (diameter of tens of micrometers)
can also bring supplementary difficulties in the manufacturing
process.
2.2.2.2. Conduction loss aC. To evaluate conduction loss aC, the
metal strips are defined by a finite conductivity r. If the metal
thickness t = 500
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
ffi nm is much larger than the skin depth d
(d ¼ 1= pf lr, where l is the permeability of metals and f the fre-
quency), the linear surface resistance can be written as RS = 1/(rd).
A high conductivity gives a low resistance allowing to the reduc-
tion of the conduction losses. Considering the metal conductivity
as the one of gold (Au), rAu = 4.1  107 S/m, the skin depth d is
178 nm at 200 GHz and 79 nm at 1000 GHz.
With a narrow gap or a high substrate permittivity, the current
density is higher and more localized at the surface of the conduc-
tors, strengthening the detrimental contribution of RS on aC (Fig. 5,
rAu = 4.1  107 S/m) and leading to the leakage of the electric field
laterally to the propagation due to the proximity of the ground
planes. A square root frequency-dependence of aC is observed for
each value of W and each substrate in Fig. 5. aC is proportional to
RS when t  d. So the condition t = 500 nm  d is approximately
satisfied. At 1 THz, aC equals to 3.9 dB/mm with BCB and 7.75 dB/
mm with InP [17], it is divided by ten for the same gap
W = 1.6 lm. For Zc close to 70 X, aC is reduced from 44% with
BCB. With WBCB = 12 lm, aC is reduced to the smallest value of
1.26 dB/mm at 1 THz. Then to decrease the conductor loss, the sig-
nal strip S1 and the slot width W should be of the same order [23].
The analytic result underestimates again the attenuation
(Fig. 5). For the same gap width, CPW on BCB shows a better per-
formance on reducing aC due to its small effective permittivity
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
(aC / eeff Z 0 / eeff as in (Eq. (4))). This again validates the advan-
tage of BCB over InP.
2.2.2.3. Dielectric loss aD. Dielectric loss aD is described by means of
the loss tangent (tan d = ei/er), where ei is the imaginary part of the
modeled substrate permittivity (e = e0(er + jei)).
For BCB, a constant loss tangent tan dBCB of 0.007 is considered
according to measurement reported in [15]. This choice implies a
quasi linear frequency dependence of aD as shown in Fig. 6.
For the semi-insulating InP substrate, dielectric losses arise
from its low conductivity, rInP = 2.4 S/m (very low limit). This value
corresponds to a hole concentration of pHInP = 1015 cm3 and a
mobility lHInP = 150 cm2/Vs [24]. If we compare the two materials
we can deduce the equivalent loss tangent of InP with the relation
tan dInP = rInP/(2e0erpf). Even if the loss tangent is inversely propor-
tional to the frequency f, it yields aD nearly constant over the entire
frequency range with an average value of 0.7 dB/mm as repre-
sented in Fig. 6. The small variation of aD with f and W comes from
the dispersive behavior of the CPW mode, particularly on InP. At
500 GHz, tan InP for InP is equal to 0.007 as the one of BCB. At
1 THz, tan InP decreases to 0.0035, even so half the value observed
for BCB. But this value leads to a higher aD for InP. Consequently,
a low real part of the relative permittivity er of the substrate is
essential to greatly decrease the dielectric losses. The model of
tan d for InP can be improved through the implementation of a
differential mobility including a cutoff-frequency whereas an
unsophisticated frequency dependent model is sufficient for BCB
[15]. For the BCB, tan d can also depend on the frequency through
a phenomenological model (tan dBCB = 0.0073 + 0.0017  f (in
THz)) [15] (for BCB (CYCLOTENE 4026-46)). Compared to
simulation with a constant value (tan dBCB = 0.007), the absolute
difference in aD is only 0.3 dB/mm at 1500 GHz with W = 12 lm.
Therefore, the constant model of tan d for BCB is sufficient to
Fig. 5. Comparison of the conduction loss aC (rAu = 4.1  107 S/m) for CPW on BCB
with WBCB = 1.6, 6.6 and 12 lm and on InP with WInP = 12 lm calculated with Ansoft
HFSS.
 L. Cao et al. / Infrared Physics & Technology 63 (2014) 157–164
Fig. 6. Comparison of the dielectric loss aD (tan dBCB = 0.007, rInP = 2.4 S/m) for CPW
on BCB and InP with WBCB = 1.6, 6.6 and 12 lm and on InP with WInP = 12 lm
calculated with Ansoft HFSS.
produce satisfactory result of aD below 1 THz. At 1 THz and with W
of 12 lm, the values of aD are close for BCB and for InP, with 0.6 dB/
mm and 0.95 dB/mm, respectively. Dielectric loss can be further
reduced by using another low permittivity material with even low-
er loss tangent, such as a cyclic-olefin copolymer (COC) with
erCOC = 2.35 at 10 GHz and tan dCOC = 0.0007 at 1 THz [25].
As concerns the analytic Eq. (5), it predicts accurately this kind
of loss aD for both BCB and InP.
2.2.2.4. Total losses aT. The total losses aT for CPW on the two sub-
strates are compared in Fig. 7. As seen in Fig. 3 to Fig. 6, aT is mainly
due to aR at high frequency, while aT is governed by aC at low fre-
quency. For the same gap and at the same frequency, CPW on BCB
exhibits always better performances (aT = 2.8 dB/mm for BCB and
6.61 dB/mm for InP at 1 THz and with W = 6.6 lm. For Zc close to
70 X (WBCB = 1.6 lm and WInP = 12 lm), aT decrease of 41%. The
values of aT for WBCB = 6.6 and 12 lm are lower than those mea-
sured for other waveguides like microstrip on thin film for Zc close
to 70 X [16]. CPW with the smaller gap (W = 1.6 lm) suffers from a
larger conduction loss. The optimal structure is the CPW with
W = 6.6 lm for the one a better tradeoff between aR and aC is ob-
tained. W = 12 lm gives a slightly lower aT below 800 GHz for
BCB and below 600 GHz for InP.
This observation can be well described by another selection cri-
terion namely the quality factor QT. Indeed, linear attenuation aT is
very useful to investigate the losses per meter (versus the physical
Fig. 7. Comparison of the total losses aT (rAu = 4.1  107 S/m, tan dBCB = 0.007,
rInP = 2.4 S/m) for CPW with WBCB = 1.6, 6.6 and 12 lm and on InP with WInP = 12 -
lm calculated with Ansoft HFSS.
161
length of the line of propagation) introduced by interconnections:
higher the attenuation is, lower is the device performance (notably
the transmitted signal magnitude). However, the phase shifts
caused by these lines at fixed operating frequencies in the circuits
must be looked too. In filters, impedance matching networks,
power splitters, phase shifters or couplers, quarter-wave or half-
wave lines are needed and it is the electrical length which dictates
the operation of these various microwave devices. Then, the atten-
uation aT appears as no longer sufficient. The quality factor QT noti-
fied in [26], occurs as a relevant alternative:
b
QT ¼ ; ð7Þ
2aT
where b and aT are the respective propagation vector and total
attenuation corresponding to the CPW mode. QT reflects losses
as a function of the wished phase and therefore the wanted elec-
trical length of the line. This definition makes sense for high val-
ues of QT (>5), and it is applicable here for frequency exceeding
200 GHz.
Fig. 8 illustrates the frequency dependence of QT for CPW on
BCB and on InP on the range [20–1000] GHz. QT evolves almost
as a parabolic function versus frequency whatever the substrate.
Before 600 GHz, InP appears as a good substrate because QT reaches
a value close to 40. While the losses of the CPW on InP are higher
than the one on BCB, they are compensated by the CPW mode
propagation vector. Beyond this frequency, the quality factor de-
creases whereas the one of CPW on BCB is growing. The decrease
of QT for InP could be explained via the strong coupling between
the CPW and the SL mode from 600 GHz as shown in [17]. At
1 THz, for WBCB = 6.6 lm, QT = 38 is improved by 42% in comparison
with InP if W is the same, but it remains under until 800 GHz for
similar Zc (WBCB = 1.6 lm and WInP = 12 lm). Whereas, for
W = 12 lm even if radiation losses are well reduced due to BCB,
the propagation vector does not allow to enhance enough QT.
The advantages of CPW on BCB are clearly demonstrated in the
above section in the THz frequency range and the quality factor is a
good indicator to select the right substrate but also the dimension
for the CPW used on a given frequency range.
If only aT is analyzed, the best CPW is the broadened even if a
trade off should be done following the operating frequency with
WBCB = 6.6 lm. If the couple (aT, QT) is both selected as a choice cri-
terion, WBCB = 6.6 lm is better.
Until now, the typical configuration of CPW was studied for var-
ious Zc. In the following section the CPW was redesigned for
Zc = 50 X for a better matching with VNA.
Fig. 8. Comparison of quality factor QT (rAu = 4.1  107 S/m, tan dBCB = 0.007,
rInP = 2.4 S/m) for CPW on BCB with WBCB = 1.6, 6.6 and 12 lm and InP with
WInP = 12 lm from Ansoft HFSS data.
162 L. Cao et al. / Infrared Physics & Technology 63 (2014) 157–164
3. Redesigned CPW on BCB for Zc = 50 X: realization and
measurement
Five standard CPW structures have been designed and fabri-
cated: three CPW with pairs S1/W of 36/3 lm, 70/4.28 lm and
100/6 lm corresponding to Zc of 50 X at 20 GHz and two CPW with
the same S1 value of 36 lm and with W of 6 and 10 lm (Zc = 79 X
and Zc = 84 X respectively) to evaluate briefly the influence of W on
the attenuation. The width S2 of each ground plane is 150 lm.
3.1. Fabrication of the CPW
The fabrication begins on a 2 inch silicon wafer of low resistivity
(about 1–20 cm). A 30 lm thick BCB layer is deposited on the wa-
fer and cured (Dow Chemical CYCLOTENE 3022-63 [31]). The
metallic film (Ti (10 nm)/Au (500 nm)) is evaporated on the BCB.
The definition of CPW patterns and de-embedding structures is
done by optical lithography, followed by inert gas ion beam etch-
ing (IBE) of the metal. Fig. 9 shows the microscope view of the typ-
ical CPW sample with S1 of 70 lm and W of 4.28 lm, including
access pads and tapered section line for Ground–Signal–Ground
(GSG) probing. The CPW mode or excitation of devices is assumed
to be done via GSG probing.
3.2. Measurement and de-embedding
The on-wafer measurement was carried out with an Agilent
PNA-X network analyzer between 340 and 500 GHz. Lateral
dimensions of the CPW are wider than the pitch of the coplanar
probes used for measurement: Cascade Microtech Infinity i500
with a pitch of 60 lm, and associated TRL (Thru, Reflect, Line) cal-
ibration substrate. A tapered line section (length b in Fig. 9) adapts
dimensions of the CPW to the contact pads.
Once calibration is done at the probe level, S-parameters mea-
surement is performed on CPW of various lengths up to 2 mm
and on many short-circuited CPW structures inspired from offset
short circuits.
With the measurement of transmission lines and reflects (short
circuits) one can perform a second calibration such as TRL [32], to
isolate S-parameters of the CPW only. TRL calibration can be en-
riched of lumped elements [33].
Whereas, the calibration is based on an error model, the de-
embedding relies on an electrical model. The classical de-embed-
ding techniques use matrix computation [34] and their objective
is to subtract from CPW measurements, the contribution of the ta-
pered adapter and of the imperfect coupling of the probes with
coplanar pads on BCB.
The calibration requires a good knowledge of the reflection to
model the short circuit in the error model or a good confidence
in offset line lengths used before the same reflect or between
CPW of different lengths. The physical length is well defined but
different sections (CPW, tapered adapter, pads with probe coupling
environment) are supposed not long enough to separate each one
without doubt. The same drawback exists for the de-embedding.
It is based on a fixed ideal electrical model with the division of each
Fig. 9. Microscope view of the realized CPW waveguide (S1 = 70 lm and
W = 4.28 lm) with two transitions on BCB.
part of the complete lines and of offset shorts in equivalent circuit
between nodes or port terminations. Globally, calibration and de-
embedding are both sensitive to measurement noise and imperfect
modeling when using matrix calculation.
Our choice was on the de-embedding method to adjust
S-parameters (S11, S22, and S21  S12) at best to the electrical model
used for the CPW and accesses. The objective is first to fit all mea-
surement together. An examination of the complete set of S-
parameters was performed with the electrical simulator Advanced
Design System (ADS) from Agilent [35], for three lines of length (L)
of 0.5, 1 and 2 mm and three unpaired offset shorts. It represents a
total of 18 S-parameters involved in a fitting process with strong
constraints on the reflection coefficient of short circuits to fit the
best possible the accesses over the entire frequency range. The
constraints are lower for the CPW lines themselves and they
mainly concern the phase of each transmission line which should
be proportional to the physical length of the CPW section.
If the electrical length of each CPW section is controlled with
the physical length, the characteristic impedance and the attenu-
ation constant can freely change. Each tapered section on the left
and on the right side of the CPW or of offset shorts is modeled
partially with a transmission line. Some small differences exist
between measurements with the probe on the left (S11) and with
the probes on the right (S22) showing a non negligible impact of
the real probe and its environment on measurement. This leads
to asymmetry in calibrated measurement of this passive recipro-
cal network including the planar device and the probing. Inversed
measurement (180° rotation of on-wafer devices without chang-
ing probes) was not performed but it should improve the
de-embedding for accesses, considering good probing contact
repeatability.
The pads section is modeled with frequency-dependent imped-
ances and admittances in a P cell. Similar results can be achieved
with a T cell. As the left access is a little different from the right ac-
cess, parameters of the P cell on the left are different from those on
the right.
The same impedance model is used for the short circuit on the
left side and on the right side. The CPW section giving the offset
line between the tapered section and the short is 15, 115 and
215 lm long.
Fig. 10 represents the electrical model used for one CPW struc-
ture. Two P cells are for the left and for the right accesses associ-
ated with a transmission line with a length almost equal to b for
the tapered section.
During the fitting process, S-parameters of each 0.5, 1 and 2 mm
long CPW sections are obtained by removing the contribution of
accesses from CPW measurements using the reciprocal circuit of
each access. These S-parameters are used for the fitting constraint
on the electrical length, and give de-embedded data once the final
fit is reached.
For the case of S1 = 36 lm and W = 3 lm, Fig. 11 shows the
S-parameters (S11, S22 and S21) of the 1 mm long CPW line, as mea-
sured with accesses in dotted line, and once de-embedded in thick
continuous line. Only S21 is plotted for clarity. Thin lines show the
fit obtained with ADS for the three S-parameters by considering the
extraction of the electrical model from the 18 S-parameters set.
The asymmetry (S11 – S22) of the measurement is not completely
Fig. 10. Electrical model for the CPW structure with left and right accesses (pads
and tapered section) modeled with a P cell and a transmission line.
 L. Cao et al. / Infrared Physics & Technology 63 (2014) 157–164
Fig. 11. S-parameters of a 1 mm long CPW with in dotted line measured data (with
accesses), in thin continuous line the fitting data, and in thick continuous line the
de-embedded data. All curves turn clockwise with increasing frequency. The
reference impedance Z0 is 50 X.
removed for the de-embedded data. The asymmetrical and recipro-
cal electrical network built for the de-embedding purpose fits the
global trend of the overall 18-S parameters, but cannot follow all
short coming.
Once the fit achieved, the calculation of the propagation con-
stant = a + j is done with the Nicolson–Ross–Weir method
(NRW) on the de-embedded S-parameters of the three CPW of dif-
ferent lengths [36,37] This method can be executed in Agilent ad-
vanced design system (ADS) software, even during the fitting
process.
Fig. 12. (a) Measured and (b) Ansoft HFSS modeled attenuation constant aT (dB/
mm) of CPW on BCB with different dimensions (S1/W): 36/6, 36/10, 36/3, 70/4.28
and 100/6 lm.
163
3.3. Comparison VNA-measurement and HFSS modeling
Fig. 12 shows the VNA-measured and 3D HFSS simulated atten-
uation constant aT in dB/mm. We remind for simulation, that the
500 nm thick gold plates have a conductivity rAu of 4.1  107 S/
m. BCB has a relative permittivity fixed to erBCB = 2.42 and a loss
tangent tan d = 0.007. Its thickness is assumed to be 30 lm on a
semi-infinite lossy silicon substrate with erSi of 11.9 and rSi of
10 S/m.
In Fig. 12(a), the attenuation aT increases when the gap W (here
from 3 to 10 lm) increases for the three curves with S1 = 36 lm.
Numerical results (Fig. 12(b)) obtained with the good conductivity
rAu = 4.1  107 S/m are in agreement with the experimental ones.
Slight discrepancy probably comes from the dimensional variation
and metal roughness of the sample, and from de-embedded mea-
surement uncertainties and defects leading to some ripples in
Fig. 12(a). One recognizes the quasi cubic frequency dependence
of aT due to the increase of the radiation losses at high frequency.
The CPW with a wide central ribbon (S1 = 70 and 100 lm) suf-
fers from a larger attenuation (16 dB/mm at 500 GHz for
S1 = 100 lm). It is linked to the geometrical dependence of the
radiation losses predicted numerically with aR proportional to
(S1 + 2 W)2. Some fluctuations in the measured attenuation con-
stant are again attributed to the measurement and to the de-
embedding uncertainties at high frequency.
The best structure here is CPW with S1 = 36 lm and W = 3 lm,
showing an attenuation of only 2.7 dB/mm at 400 GHz and
3.5 dB/mm at 500 GHz. Losses are smaller than those of CPW mea-
sured on some semiconductor substrate [4,5]. For instance, the
attenuation of CPW measured on GaAs reaches 2.25 dB/mm at
220 GHz. In [38], a CPW on HR-Si was characterized by time do-
main electro-optic sampling. The dimensions of the waveguide
were S1 = 16 lm, W = 12 lm and eSi = 11.68, and the attenuation
obtained was about 2.2 dB/mm at 400 GHz for wide ground-planes
(S2 = 160 lm) and only 1.5 dB/mm for narrow ground-planes
(S2 = S1 = 16 lm).
To our knowledge, results reported here are the first experi-
mental data of losses of CPW on BCB from S-parameters between
340 and 500 GHz with VNA. These results are comparable to atten-
uation constants of microstrip lines on BCB, also reported in [38],
with for instance about 2.1 dB/mm at 400 GHz for a 70 X line with
a 8 lm wide strip (800 nm thick Al, 3  107 S/m) on a 5.4 lm
thick BCB layer measured electro-optically. The advantage of S-
parameters and measurement with GSG is a better confidence in
CPW mode measurement.
4. Conclusions
The parametric influence of the gap width (1.6, 6.6 and 12 lm)
and of the substrate (BCB and InP) of the CPW have been studied
numerically on the dispersion and on the different kinds of loss
in the waveguide. A substrate with a low permittivity as BCB al-
lows the decrease of the radiation loss up to 80% and the conduc-
tion loss of 30% for the CPW mode. This leads also to a diminution
of the total losses up to 40% in average for different gap widths W
and for similar Zc, (WBCB = 1.6 lm and WInP = 12 lm) also. Other
geometrical solutions can be proposed to reduce radiation losses.
The parasitic slotline mode can be effectively attenuated by the
addition of air-bridges across the conventional waveguide but here
it is not needed because the waveguide is monomode on the con-
sidered frequency range up to 1200 GHz with a very low coupling
between the two modes beyond this frequency. Another alterna-
tive is to modify the structure with the addition of a backside con-
ductor on the bottom. This solution can reduce the radiation loss
but partially over a frequency range of 50–100 GHz between two
164 L. Cao et al. / Infrared Physics & Technology 63 (2014) 157–164
resonant frequencies. This structure has the disadvantage also to
have parallel plate’s resonances which alter considerably the prop-
agation of the CPW mode. This study is enriched in a second part,
by the realization of monomode CPW on BCB redesigned for
Zc = 50 X in the aim to characterize the THz signal propagation
with a VNA between 340 and 500 GHz. The measured attenuations
agree well with simulated attenuations. Among this set of dimen-
sions of waveguides, the best measured CPW structure with a cen-
tral ribbon width S1 = 36 lm and a gap W = 3 lm, shows an
attenuation of only 3.5 dB/mm at 500 GHz. Optimization of the
attenuation in CPW can be realized and continued by properly
choosing the dimensions of S1 and W.
CPW on BCB seems to be a very good candidate for THz inter-
connection lines, for wider dimensions guide. Moreover, BCB or
other polymer with low permittivity and low loss tangent offers
the capability to deposit it on top of the CPW or of the microstrip
for using unique dielectric medium, in order to reduce even more
radiation losses and dispersion. The use of this polymer opens also
new perspectives of characterization of active devices. For instance
in [39], transistors embedded in microstrip lines on BCB have been
measured by using a multiline thru-reflect-line (TRL) calibration
and coupling corrections to 750 GHz.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Hermann Massler and Michael
Schlechtweg at Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Solid State Physics
(IAF) in Freiburg, Germany, for on-wafer measurement. The
samples were fabricated in the University Technology Center
‘‘IEF – MINERVE’’ of the French ‘‘Basic Technological Research’’
network.
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