Nanostructured Inductors for Millimetre-Wave Applications

• Author / Creator

  Seilis, Aaron G

• Modern integrated and system-on-chip electronics require high-quality on-chip passive
  components. Existing inductor designs for microwave and millimetre-wave applications are
  typically prohibitively large and have low quality factors, requiring circuit designers to avoid
  integrating them or to use less desirable alternatives. This research studied vertical on-chip
  inductor structures through electromagnetic simulations and measurements on two materials.
  Simulations demonstrated that magnetic anisotropic materials produce useful inductances and
  quality factors at microwave frequencies. Thin magnetic films deposited using glancing angle
  deposition were fabricated as inductors and measured up to 70 GHz, producing inductances as
  high as 1 nH/um^2, which is significantly higher than other CMOS compatible technologies
  reported to date. The highest quality factor measured for the films was 3, with the measurements
  suggesting that the quality factor continues to increase at higher frequencies. Carbon nanotube
  inductors were also fabricated and measured, however, the contact resistance was found to be
  prohibitively high.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Integrated inductors
  • RF
  • On-chip inductors
  • Nanotechnology
  • Radio frequency
  • Inductors

• Graduation date

  Fall 2013

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Science

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R32R3P74J

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.