Radio frequency switch

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11804869-B2
Application number	US-202117461621-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 30, 2021
Priority date	Oct 30, 2019
Publication date	Oct 31, 2023
Grant date	Oct 31, 2023

Abstract

Disclosed is a RF switch module and methods to fabricate and operate such RF switch to alternatively couple an antenna to either a transmitter transmission line or a receiver transmission line to realize lower distortion of a signal at high frequencies with improved insertion loss and without affecting isolation. In one embodiment, a Radio Frequency (RF) switch module, includes, a switch circuit for switching between transmitting first signals from a transmitter unit to an antenna and transmitting second signals from the antenna to the receiver unit, wherein the switch circuit comprises a plurality of field effect transistors (FETs), wherein each of the plurality of FETs comprises stacked gate dielectrics and at least three metal contacts to a conductive gate, wherein the stacked gate dielectrics comprises at least one first dielectric layer, wherein the first dielectric layer comprises a negative-capacitance material.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A Radio Frequency (RF) switch module, comprising:
a switch circuit for switching between transmitting first signals from a transmitter port to an antenna port and transmitting second signals from the antenna port to a receiver port, wherein the switch circuit comprises;
a first capacitance switch that couples the antenna port to the transmitter port;
a second capacitance switch that couples the antenna port to the receiver port;
a first power supply unit coupled between the antenna port and ground;
a second power supply unit coupled between the transmitter port and ground; and
a third power supply unit coupled between the receiver port and ground,
wherein each of the two capacitance switches comprises stacked gate dielectrics and at least three metal contacts coupled to a conductive gate, wherein the stacked gate dielectrics comprises at least one first dielectric layer and at least one second dielectric layer, and wherein the at least one second dielectric layer comprises a different material than the at least one first dielectric layer.

2. The RF switch of claim 1 , wherein the at least one first dielectric layer comprises a negative-capacitance material and the at least one second dielectric layer comprises a high dielectric constant (high-k) dielectric material.

3. The RF switch of claim 2 , wherein a first thickness of the at least one first dielectric layer is in a range of 0.1-200 nanometers.

4. The RF switch of claim 2 , wherein the negative-capacitance material in the first dielectric layer comprises one of the following: doped Hafnium dioxide (HfO2) and doped Zirconium oxide (ZrO2), wherein each of the doped HfO2 and the doped ZrO2 is doped with at least one of the following elements: Yttrium (Y), Strontium (Sr), Gadolinium (Gd), Zirconium (Zr), Aluminum (Al), Tantalum (Ta), Niobium (Nb), and Silicon (Si).

5. The RF switch of claim 2 , wherein the at least three metal contacts coupled to the conductive gate are configured linearly providing electrical contacts to the conductive gate, wherein the at least three metal contacts are configured with a first width, a spacing between two adjacent metal contacts, and an enclosure distance, wherein the enclosure distance is defined as the shortest distance from an edge of the metal contact to an edge of the conductive gate.

6. The RF switch of claim 5 , wherein a first ratio between the spacing and a first thickness of the first dielectric layer is in a range of 0.1-10000; a second ratio between the spacing and a channel length is in a range of 0.1-10000; a third ratio between the spacing and a channel width is in a range of 0.1-10000; a fourth ratio between the enclosure distance and the first thickness of the first dielectric layer is in a range of 0.1-10000; a fifth ratio between the enclosure distance and the channel width is in a range of 0.1-10000; and a sixth ratio between the enclosure distance and the channel length is in a range of 0.1-10000.

7. The RF switch of claim 1 , wherein the first power supply unit, the second power supply unit and the third power supply unit are respectively coupled to at least three metal contacts.

8. A switch, comprising:
a first a field effect transistor (FET) coupled between an antenna port and a transmitter port;
a second FET coupled between the antenna port and a receiver port;
a first power supply unit coupled to the antenna port;
a second power supply unit coupled to the transmitter port; and
a third power supply coupled to the receiver port,
wherein the first FET and the second FET each comprises stacked gate dielectrics and at least three metal contacts coupled to a conductive gate, wherein the stacked gate dielectrics comprises at least one first dielectric layer and at least one second dielectric layer, and wherein the at least one second dielectric layer comprises a different material than the at least one first dielectric layer.

9. The switch of claim 8 , wherein the at least one first dielectric layer comprises a negative-capacitance material and the at least one second dielectric layer comprises a high dielectric constant (high-k) dielectric material.

10. The switch of claim 9 , wherein the at least one second dielectric layer comprises Hafnium dioxide (HfO2).

11. The switch of claim 9 , wherein a first thickness of the at least one first dielectric layer is in a range of 0.1-200 nanometers.

12. The switch of claim 9 , wherein the negative-capacitance material in the at least one first dielectric layer comprises one of the following: doped Hafnium dioxide (HfO2) and doped Zirconium oxide (ZrO2), wherein each of the doped HfO2 and the doped ZrO2 is doped with at least one of the following elements: Yttrium (Y), Strontium (Sr), Gadolinium (Gd), Zirconium (Zr), Aluminum (Al), Tantalum (Ta), Niobium (Nb), and Silicon (Si).

13. The switch of claim 9 , wherein the at least three metal contacts coupled to the conductive gate are configured linearly providing electrical contacts to the conductive gate, wherein the at least three metal contacts are configured with a first width, a spacing between two adjacent metal contacts, and an enclosure distance, wherein the enclosure distance is defined as the shortest distance from an edge of the metal contact to an edge of the conductive gate.

14. The switch of claim 13 , wherein a first ratio between the spacing and a first thickness of the at least one first dielectric layer is in a range of 0.1-10000; a second ratio between the spacing and a channel length is in a range of 0.1-10000; a third ratio between the spacing and a channel width is in a range of 0.1-10000; a fourth ratio between the enclosure distance and the first thickness of the first dielectric layer is in a range of 0.1-10000; a fifth ratio between the enclosure distance and the channel width is in a range of 0.1-10000; and a sixth ratio between the enclosure distance and the channel length is in a range of 0.1-10000.

15. The switch of claim 8 , wherein each of the first and second FETs comprises a fin structure.

16. A switch, comprising:
a switch circuit for switching between transmitting first signals from a transmitter port to an antenna port and transmitting second signals from the antenna port to a receiver port, wherein the switch circuit comprises:
a first capacitance switch implemented with a field effect transistor (FET) that couples the antenna port to the transmitter port;
a second capacitance switch implemented with a FET that couples the antenna port to the receiver port;
a first power supply coupled via a first resistor to the antenna port;
a second power supply coupled via a second resistor to the transmitter port; and
a third power supply coupled via a third resistor to the receiver port,
wherein each of the two capacitance switches comprises at least two layers of stacked gate dielectrics and at least three metal contacts coupled to a conductive gate, and wherein each of the two capacitance switches function as varactor diodes that exhibit a voltage dependence capacitance.

17. The switch of claim 16 , wherein the stacked gate dielectrics comprises at least one first dielectric layer and at least one second dielectric layer, and wherein the at least one second dielectric layer comprises a different material than the at least one first dielectric layer.

18. The switch of claim 17 , wherein the at least one first dielectric layer comprises a negative-capacitance material and the at least one second dielectric layer comprises a high dielectric constant (high-k) dielectric material.

19. Th

Assignees

• Taiwan Semiconductor Mfg Co Ltd

Inventors

• Jin Jun-De

Classifications

• H10W44/20

  at high-frequency [HF] or radio frequency [RF] · CPC title

• H10D64/689

  having ferroelectric layers · CPC title

• H10D64/685

  being perpendicular to the channel plane · CPC title

• H10D30/6211

  having fin-shaped semiconductor bodies integral with the bulk semiconductor substrates · CPC title

• H10D30/701

  IGFETs having ferroelectric gate insulators, e.g. ferroelectric FETs · CPC title