Ferrite film growth on semiconductor substrates towards microwave and millimeter wave integrated circuits

Abstract

It is widely recognized that as electronic systems' operating frequency shifts to microwave and millimeter wave bands, the integration of ferrite passive devices with semiconductor solid state active devices holds significant advantages in improved miniaturization, bandwidth, speed, power and production costs, among others. Traditionally, ferrites have been employed in discrete bulk form, despite attempts to integrate ferrite as films within microwave integrated circuits. Technical barriers remain centric to the incompatibility between ferrite and semiconductor materials and their processing protocols. In this review, we present past and present efforts at ferrite integration with semiconductor platforms with the aim to identify the most promising paths to realizing the complete integration of on-chip ferrite and semiconductor devices, assemblies and systems. © 2012 American Institute of Physics.