RF/microwave modeling and comparison of buried, blind and through-hole vias

In order to efficiently design multilayered chip packages and boards for RF/high-speed applications, a comparative study of different via configurations, as well as appropriate design measures to prevent their parasitic effects from degrading the entire system performance is needed. We present a comparison between buried, blind and through-hole vias based on their full-wave electromagnetic (EM) field simulation, equivalent circuit modeling and RF measurement results. From this comparison, design recommendations that can be used to reduce/eliminate signal degrading effects caused by these vias were deduced for frequencies up to 30GHz.