ELECTROMAGNETIC DESIGN ASPECTS OF PACKAGES FOR MONOLITHIC MICROWAVE INTEGRATED CIRCUIT-BASED ARRAYS WITH INTEGRATED ANTENNA ELEMENTS

Reliable and cost-effective packaging of monolithic microwave integrat ed circuits (MMIC's) is an important aspect of the design of phased ar ray systems, At millimeter wavelengths, where small dimensions make ma chining and assembly a complex matter, the interconnections between th e modules housing the MMIC components and the antenna elements are a s ource of unreliability as well as a potential problem in terms of elec tromagnetic losses. One solution involves the integration of antenna e lements onto the MMIC chips, This paper addresses the issues involved in packaging and housing MMIC chips with integrated antenna elements a nd presents some insights into the electromagnetic design of such pack ages.