Performance evaluations of dielectric waveguide for millimeter-wave on-wafer measurements

We have developed flexible circular dielectric waveguide for millimeter-wave and terahertz frequency applications. In the millimeter and terahertz frequency range, over 70 GHz, metallic waveguide transmission line is generally used. However, it is hard to build-up the system due to noflexibility of metallic waveguide lines. High density polytetrafluoroethylene, i.e. PTFE, is used for developed dielectric waveguide lines. The PTFE has dielectric permittivity constant of approximately 2.0 with low loss, tanδ <; 10^-4. In the developed dielectric waveguide, the electromagnetic wave can transmit with single mode over 60 GHz and multimode over 90 GHz. The proposed dielectric waveguide has also demonstrated the on-wafer measurements for verification devices compared to on-wafer measurement built up by conventional 1.0 mm coaxial cable system. As the comparison results, the proposed dielectric waveguide can potentially be applied to on-wafer measurement at millimeter-wave frequency and above.