Reduced microwave attenuation in coplanar waveguides using deep level impurity compensated Czochralski-silicon substrates

We show that deep level doping of Czochralski-grown silicon wafers is capable of providing high resistivity handle wafers suitable for radio frequency integrated circuits. Starting from n-type Czochralski silicon wafers having a nominal resistivity of 50 Omega cm, we use ion implantation and subsequent annealing to increase the resistivity of the wafers to over 10 k Omega cm at room temperature. Coplanar waveguides fabricated on implanted wafers show strongly reduced attenuation down to 0.3 dB mm(-1) from 0.8 dB mm(-1) for un-implanted wafers in the 1-40 GHz range, providing clear evidence that the technique is effective in improving performance of passive devices at GHz range frequencies.