Dry film photoresist-based microfabrication: A new method to fabricate millimeter-wave waveguide componentsShow others and affiliations
2021 (English)In: Micromachines, E-ISSN 2072-666X, Vol. 12, no 3, article id 260Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
This paper presents a novel fabrication method based on dry film photoresists to realize waveguides and waveguide-based passive components operating at the millimeter-wave frequency (30–300 GHz). We demonstrate that the proposed fabrication method has a high potential as an alternative to other microfabrication technologies, such as silicon-based and SU8-based micromachining for realizing millimeter-wave waveguide components. Along with the nearly identical transfer of geometrical structures, the dry film photoresist offers other advantages such as fewer processing steps, lower production cost, and shorter prototyping time over the conventional micromachining technologies. To demonstrate the feasibility of the fabrication process, we use SUEX dry film to fabricate a ridge gap waveguide resonator. The resonator is designed to exhibit two resonances at 234.6 and 284 GHz. The measured attenuation at 234 GHz is 0.032 dB/mm and at 283 GHz is 0.033 dB/mm for the fabricated prototype. A comparative study among different existing technologies indicates that the reported method can give a better unloaded Q-value than other conventional processes. The measured unloaded Q-values are in good agreement with the simulated unloaded Q-values. The signal attenuation indicates that SUEX dry film photoresists can be used to fabricate passive devices operating at millimeter-wave frequencies. Moreover, this new fabrication method can offer fast and low-cost prototyping. © 2021 by the authors.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
MDPI AG , 2021. Vol. 12, no 3, article id 260
Keywords [en]
Dry film photoresist, Gap waveguide, MEMS, Microfabrication, THz, Costs, Entertainment industry, Microanalysis, Micromachining, Millimeter waves, Photoresists, Resonators, Waveguide components, Comparative studies, Dry-film photoresists, Fabrication process, Geometrical structure, Micro-fabrication technology, Micromachining technologies, Millimeter wave frequencies, Millimeter-wave waveguides, Millimeter wave devices
National Category
Other Engineering and Technologies
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:ri:diva-52625DOI: 10.3390/mi12030260Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85102641569OAI: oai:DiVA.org:ri-52625DiVA, id: diva2:1539483
Note
Funding text 1: This work has been supported by Adlerbertska Forskningsstiftelsen Fund.
2021-03-242021-03-242024-01-17Bibliographically approved