High-Q integrated spiral inductors for high performance wireless front-end systems

Inductors are essential components in wireless front-end systems. In this paper we present high-Q spiral inductors integrated in thin film multilayer MCM-D technology with quality factors of more than 100 at microwave frequencies. These inductors, together with other integrated passive components such as capacitors, resistors and interconnections are used to realize high performance systems for wireless front-ends. Examples of fully integrated filters, couplers, a DECT VCO and a LNA for 5.2 GHz wireless LAN applications are discussed.