Accurate broadband modeling of multiconductor line RLGC-parameters in the presence of good conductors and semiconducting substrates

This tutorial discusses the definition and the meaning of the classical resistance-inductance-conductance-capacitance (RLGC-) parameters for multiconductor transmission lines in the presence of good conductors and semiconductors. Special attention is devoted to the correct circuit interpretation of voltages and currents. An efficient numerical approach to obtain broadband RLGC-data for arbitrary cross-sections, while accurately taking into account skin-effect and current crowding, is outlined. Three examples illustrate the proposed approach: a printed circuit board (PCB) differential line, a metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS) microstrip and a pair of coupled inverted embedded on-chip lines.