Micromachined On-wafer Probes

T heodore J. Reck, Lihan Chen, Chunhu Zhang, Christopher Groppil, Haiyong Xu,
Alex Arsenovic, N. Scott Barker, Arthur Lichtenberger and Robert M. Weikle
Charles L. Brown Department of Electrical Engineering,
University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22903, U.S.A.
l Arizona State University School of Earth and Space Exploration, Tempe, AZ 85287, U.S.A.

Abstract- A micromachined on-wafer probe is designed, fab

ricated and measured at W-Band as a proof of concept for probes
operating at sub-millimeter wavelengths. A fabrication process
is developed to create devices that combine a waveguide probe
with a GSG probe tip on a 15 jlm silicon substrate. This device
is housed in a metal machined waveguide block that provides
mechanical support for the probe and connection to a waveguide
flange. Load-cell measurements show a DC contact resistance
below 0.07

with a force of 1 mN. A two-tier TRL calibration

characterizes the operation of the electromagnetic design and an

insertion loss of 1.75 dB is achieved; this is comparable with
commercial probes operating in the same band.

Index

Terms- On-wafer probes, CPW, waveguide, micro

machining.

Fig. 1.

The l5jlm thick silicon probe chip mounted to the bottom

half of the waveguide block. The top half of the block is removed

I. INTRODUCTION

for clarity. Not visible on the underside of the chip is the conductor
connecting the waveguide probe to the wafer probe tips.

Current sub-millimeter wave and terahertz frequency sys

tems are generally based on either rectangular waveguide or
quasi-optics, both of which tend to result in bulky systems. As
in the microwave regime, integrated circuit technology could
significantly reduce the size and increase the availability of
terahertz systems. An indication of this is the 35 nm InP
HEMT process developed at Northrop Grumman which has
produced devices that have ft as high as 350 GHz and fmax
extrapolated to be 1.44 THz [ 1]. This type of technology could
eventually lead to integrated terahertz systems, similar to what
is available today up to 100 GHz.
While significant progress has been made, improvements
in the measurement systems available at these wavelengths
would greatly accelerate further developments. Calibrated on
wafer measurements of these new devices would significantly
decrease the amount of trial and error in the design process by
enabling the development of more accurate circuit models of
these devices. Commercial probes are available up to 500 GHz,
but the associated manufacturing techniques are unlikely to
work for higher frequency probe designs.
In this paper we present a scalable approach to wafer
probe development that integrates a waveguide probe and
wafer probe tips on a 15 p,m silicon substrate as shown in
Fig. 1. This ultra-thin silicon can support sub-millimeter wave
transmission lines and simultaneously provide the mechanical
force necessary for a low-resistance contact. For comparison
to commercially available on-wafer probes, this approach is
first developed at W-Band. The mechanical design and general
approach to constructing the micromachined wafer probe

978-1-4244-7732-6/101$26.00 2010 IEEE

are verified through network analyzer and contact resistance

measurements.
II. MECHANICAL DESIGN
To enable biasing and reduce insertion loss, the probe
structure must provide enough force to create a low resistance
contact with the substrate's transmission line. Commercial
probes are stated to have contact resistances at or below
0. 1 n [2]. Based on microactuator measurements it is expected
that at least 0.2 ruN of force per tip will be needed between
the probe and the device to achieve this contact resistance [3].
To generate this force, a silicon cantilever beam is clamped
in a waveguide block. Shown in Fig. 2, as the tip of the beam
presses against the device, the beam deflection generates the
force at the contact. The reaction to this force is the stress,
(J", induced in the beam. Studies of 5p,m single crystal silicon
processed in a similar way to the ultra-thin silicon used here
revealed the fracture strength, the maximum stress that could
be induced in the silicon before it fractures, to be 4.5 GPa [4].
Therefore, this characteristic of the silicon sets the upper limit
on the maximum force the probe will generate before being
destroyed.

A. Angle of Probe to the Substrate

To align using standard probe station equipment, the probe
tip must be long enough to extend beyond the block to be
visible in a microscope. It must also reach below the level of

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IMS 2010

Waveguide
Block

Micro-machined
Silicon Probe

,
,
,
,:.
Sf

Fig. 3.
Fig. 2.

I = 350 J.lm and e =300 As the probe is lowered onto the substrate,
a stress

(J

under this load.

is introduced into the probe.

of being well characterized and is less susceptible to coupling

to spurious modes, while the coaxial approach has significantly
less line loss. In addition, the microstrip design requires a via
for the transition from microstrip to the OSO probe tips, thus
complicating the fabrication process.
Figure 4 shows the coaxial design and highlights the three
distinct design areas. The first is a transition from rectangular
waveguide to the transmission line, either microstrip or coax,
using a radial stub probe design [5]. This line transitions
to a unenclosed CPW mode traveling down the wafer probe
area. The channel enclosing the transmission line is 100 j.lm
by 100 j.lm to ensure that when scaled to 6700Hz the
waveguide mode is cutoff. Finally, the probe tips couple to
the transmission line on the substrate being probed.
HFSS2, a full wave electromagnetic field solver, is used to
simulate these two designs between the waveguide and the
probed substrate. Simulation results between the waveguide
and the CPW on the probed substrate for both approaches are
shown in Figure 5. Return loss for both designs is better than
15 dB but, as expected, the loss of the microstrip design is
significantly higher than the coaxial design.

the waveguide block so that the probe touches the substrate

before the block does.
The angle of the probe impacts the insertion of the wave
onto the substrate transmission line. Simulations of the probe
at different angles to the substrate show that angles greater
than 30 increasingly direct energy into substrate modes rather
than the transmission line. Thus 30 was chosen as the angle
that the chip rests in the block which also sets the angle of
the split through the waveguide block.
This angle and the minimum thickness of the block where
the chip emerges sets the length of the probe tip to at least
350 j.lm. This length informs the mechanical design, since as
the probe tips get longer, more stress will be induced in the
silicon for the same amount of contact force at the probe tip.
E.

Mechanical Stress Analysis

The mechanical design is analyzed by ANSYS I, a finite

element simulator. A robust shape for the silicon substrate was
designed that distributes the stress induced by the contact force
at the probe tips. Figure 3 is the simulated results for the design
under a load of 1 mN per probe tip, with the contours showing
lines of constant stress. Fillet curves are used in the support
area to avoid any sharp angles which tend to concentrate stress.
The maximum stress in the silicon under this 3 x 1 mN load is
98 MPa. This load results in a simulated deflection of 2.3 j.lm.
Assuming fracture will occur at 4 OPa there is a safety margin
of 44 times. This wide safety margin allows for a lack of
parallelism between the probe and the substrate and protects
against user error. Even if a 20 j.lm deflection was imposed on
the chip the stress would be 1 OPa; a factor of 4 below the
expected failure point of the silicon.

IV. FABRICATION AND MEASUREMENTS

The probe chips are fabricated at the University of Virginia
Microfabrication Laboratories based on an ultrathin silicon
process [6]. This process was expanded to include vias and
allow patterning of both front-side and back-side electroplated
gold. A representative probe chip is shown in Fig. 6.
Mounting the chips is a simple, adhesive-free process. The
chip is positioned in the transmission line channel of one
half of the waveguide block with a microscope and tweezers.
Alignment is provided by tabs cut into the sides of the channel,
positioning the chip to within 5 j.lm. The compression
provided by the two halves of the block holds the chip in
place.

III. MICROWAVE DESIGN

To maximize the dynamic range of the calibration, the
insertion loss between the waveguide and the probed substrate
is minimized. Two different transmission lines are evaluated
for the connection between waveguide and probe tips: mi
crostrip and rectangular coaxial. Microstrip has the advantage
1 ANSYS

Contour plot of the stress under a I mN load at each tip.

Scale is in Pascals. Not shown is the 2.3J.lm deflection of the tips

Side view of the wafer probe as it contact the device substrate.

A. Contact Resistance Measurements

Sufficient contact force resulting in a low contact resistance
is an important characteristic which effects insertion loss and
2HFSS is a registered trademark of Ansoft Corp.,P ittsburgh,PA,15219

is a registered trademark of ANSYS,Inc.,Canonsburg,PA,15317

978-1-4244-7732-6/101$26.00 2010 IEEE

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IMS 2010

Rectangular
Waveguide
(Input Port

1)

-------::;L_ Waveguide
to Coaxial
Transition

CPW
(Output Port 2)

Fig. 6.

The ultrathin silicon chip mounted in the waveguide block

Electromagnetic simulation model for the W-Band probe

housing. The bottom insert shows a microphotograph of the micro

structure. Shown here is the coaxial design. Energy is introduced

machined probe connected to the waveguide probe by the coaxial

into the rectangular waveguide (Port

transmission line.

Fig. 4.

I),

transferred to the coaxial

channel via the radial stub and emerges into CPW on to the exposed
area of the wafer probe. The output of the simulation is taken at the
CPW line on the probed silicon substrate.

3
-6
9

iil

:s-

(fl-

------- -

v+
1

S"

12
15

18
21

S"

24
27
80

85

90

95

1+ o----L-+r-----<>I_

100

105

4 _
CD
:s5 (flN

Four-wire
Probe

Contact
Substrate

6
7

Fig. 7.

A diagram showing how the contact resistance is measured

between a probe designed for one contact point and the silicon
substrate's contact pad. Connections for the four-wire measurement

9
110

are indicated by the overlayed circuit diagram.

Frequency (GHz)
Fig. 5.

HFSS simulation results for both microstrip (dashed line) and

coaxial (solid line) designs. Insertion losses are 1.6 dB and 0.5 dB
or better, respectively.

0.07
U>
E

will enable DC biasing in future designs. To verify that the

probe design provides enough force to achieve a low contact
resistance, a load cell capable of measuring forces between
0.2 mN and 100 mN is fitted with a silicon substrate with gold
pads. A custom probe with only one contact finger is fabricated
for this measurement. Fig. 7 shows how the probe and contact
substrate are designed to enable a four-point measurement of
the probe contact area. The measurements in Fig. 8 show that
a contact resistance of 0.07 n is achieved at I mN and that
it continues to decrease with additional force, approaching
saturation at 0.02 n at 55 mN.
The silicon probes have proven themselves to be sur
prisingly rugged, usually failing at an applied force above
55 mN. Thorough lifetime testing is currently underway, but

978-1-4244-7732-6/101$26.00 2010 IEEE

.<=

Q.
'"
u
c:
<II
u;
'in

'"

a:
0
<II
E
0
U

- Lowering Probe
- - - . Raising Probe

0.06
0.05
0.04
0.03
0.02
10

20

30

40

50

Force (mN)
Fig. 8.

Measurement of the contact resistance plotted against the

bending force of the probe. Note that a contact resistance below

is achieved at

67

In

mN.

IMS 2010

no reduction in contact resistance has been observed after 100

contacts against the gold conductor on the silicon test wafer.
B.

-5

-------t-- -2
-4

Probe S-Parameter Measurements

A two-port two-tier TRL calibration using MultiCal is used

to measure the microwave performance of the probe [7].
This involves first calibrating to the waveguide flanges using
waveguide TRL standards. Then the probes are attached and
calibrated again with a wafer level TRL calibration. The S
parameters from the waveguide flange of the probe to the
reference plane on the probed substrate are extracted from
these two calibrations. These results are shown in Fig. 9.
The measured insertion loss of both designs includes approx
imately 0.5 dB from the 500 p,m of CPW line on the probed
substrate and another 0.5 dB from the rectangular waveguide
between the probe and the flange. Taking this additional loss
into account, the insertion losses are 0.7 dB and 2 dB for the
coaxial and the microstip-based designs, respectively. This is
comparable with a commercial probe that is specified to have
an insertion loss of 1.75 dB and a maximum return loss of
15 dB [8].

co
:s

(J)'i:j

-10

-6

-15

-8

-10

(fJ- -20

co
:s

(fJ

-12

-25

-14

80

85

95

90

100

105

GHz
(a) Coaxial Design

-2

-5

V. CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE WORK

This paper presents a new approach to on-wafer probes that
is scalable to 670 GHz and beyond. A modular approach
allows for drop-in replacement of the probe tips without
needing replacement of the entire module. For comparison
with commercial probes, this prototype operates at W-Band.
Measurements show robust mechanical behavior capable of
forming low resistance contacts for eventual DC biasing of
on-wafer devices. Insertion and return losses of the probes are
comparable with commercial probes and enable quality on
wafer calibrations. With the basic design approach qualified,
future work will develop similar probes at 670 GHz.

GHz
(b) Microstrip Design
Fig. 9.

Two-tier measurements of the coaxial (a) and microstrip

(b) probe designs. Port 1 (solid line) is at the reference plane on the
probed substrate and Port 2 (dashed line) is at the waveguide flange.

VI. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
[3) 1. Schirnkat, "Contact measurements providing basic design data for
rnicrorelay actuators," Sensors and Actuators A: Physical, vol. 73,no. 1-2,
pp. 138 - 143,1999.
[4) X. Li,T. Kasai,S. Nakao,H. Tanaka,T. Ando,M. Shikida,and K. Sato,
"Measurement for fracture toughness of single crystal silicon film with
tensile test," Sensors and Actuators A: Physical, vol. 119,no. I,pp. 229
- 235,2005.
[5) J. W. Kooi, G. Chattopadhyay,S. Withington, F Rice, 1. Zmuidzinas,
C. Walker,and G. Yassin,"A full-height waveguide to thin-film microstrip
transition with exceptional RF bandwidth and coupling efficiency," Inter
national Journal ofInfrared and Millimeter Waves, vol. 24,pp. 261-284,
March 2003.
[6) R. Bass,A. Lichtenberger,R. Weikle,S. P an,E. Bryerton,J. Kooi,and
C. Walker,"Ultra-thin silicon chips for subrnillimeter-wave applications,"
in Proceedings of the Fifteenth International Symposium on Space THz
Technology, March 2004.
[7) R. B. Marks,"A multiline method of network analyzer calibration," IEEE
Transactions on Microwave T heory and Techniques, vol. 39, pp. 12051215,July 1991.
[8) "Model 120 - high performance microwave probes," tech. rep., GGB
Industries,http://www.ggb.comlI20.html.

The authors would like to thank Dr. John Albrecht of

DARPA, Dr. Alfred Hung of ARL, and Dr. Bill Deal of
Northrop Grumman. This work was supported by the DARPA
THz Electronics Program and Army Research Laboratory
under DARPA Contract no. HROO I I -09-C-0062 under a sub
contract from Northrop Grumman. The views, opinions, and/or
findings contained in this article/presentation are those of the
author/presenter and should not be interpreted as representing
the official views or policies, either expressed or implied,
of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency or the
Department of Defense. Approved for Public Release, Distri
bution Unlimited.
REFERENCES
[I) R. Lai,X. Mei,W. Deal,W. Yoshida,Y. Kim,P. Liu,1. Lee,1. Uyeda,
V. Radisic,M. Lange,T. Gaier,L. Samoska,and A. Fung,"Sub 50 nm
InP HEMT device with fmax greater than I THz," in Electron Devices
Meeting, 2007.IEDM 2007.IEEE International, pp. 609-611,Dec. 2007.
[2) "Infinity probe: high-frequency performance with low, stable contact
resistance," tech. rep.,Cascade Microtech,Inc,Beaverton,Oregon 97006,
2008.

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