Method of fabricating radio frequency microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) devices on low-temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) substrates

A method of forming an electrical device comprising the steps of:

• fabricating a first module from a first plurality of low-temperature co-fired ceramic (“LTCC”) layers, the first plurality of layers forming at least a first circuit used in the operation of the electrical device;
• fabricating a second module from a second plurality of low-temperature co-fired ceramic (“LTCC”) layers, the second plurality of layers forming at least a second circuit used in the operation of the electrical device;
• polishing a surface of a front layer of the first module to be used as a substrate after fabrication of the first module is completed;
• fabricating on the front layer at least one microelectromechanical device (“MEMS”) using standard MEMS processing;
• and
• bonding the first and second modules together to thereby form a cavity containing the at least one MEMS device.

A method of forming a radiating element for an array antenna comprising the steps of:

• fabricating a first module from a first plurality of low-temperature co-fired ceramic (“LTCC”) layers, the first plurality of layers forming at least a first circuit used in the operation of the array antenna;
• fabricating a second module from a second plurality of low-temperature co-fired ceramic (“LTCC”) layers, the second plurality of layers forming at least a second circuit used in the operation of the array antenna;
• polishing a surface of a front layer of the first module to be used as a substrate after fabrication of the first module is completed;
• fabricating on the front layer at least one microelectromechanical switch (“MEMS”) using MEMS processing;
• and
• bonding the first and second modules together to thereby form a cavity containing the at least one MEMS switch.

A method of forming an array antenna comprising the steps of:

• fabricating a plurality of radiating elements, each of the radiating elements being fabricated by forming at least one microelectromechanical (“MEMS”) switch on a first low-temperature co-fired ceramic (“LTCC”) module, and bonding a second LTCC module to the first LTCC module, whereby the MEMS switch is located in a cavity between the first and second LTCC modules;
• forming a plurality of sub-array modules, each of the sub-array modules being formed from a plurality of radiating elements;
• integrating the plurality of sub-array modules together to form the phased array antenna;
• and
• connecting the plurality of sub-array modules to at least one amplifier.

A method of forming an electrical device comprising the steps of:

• fabricating a first module from a first plurality of low-temperature co-fired ceramic (“LTCC”) layers, the first plurality of layers forming at least a first circuit used in the operation of the electrical device;
• fabricating a second module from a second plurality of low-temperature co-fired ceramic (“LTCC”) layers, the second plurality of layers forming at least a second circuit used in the operation of the electrical device;
• polishing a surface of a front layer of the first module to be used as a substrate after fabrication of the first module is completed;
• fabricating on the front layer at least one microelectromechanical device (“MEMS”) using standard MEMS processing;
• and
• bonding the first and second modules together to thereby form a cavity containing the at least one MEMS device.