1. Introduction to Radio Frequency and Microwave Microelectronic Packaging

Electronic packaging at radio frequency (RF) and microwave frequency has become an important part of engineering development for a wide variety of products. Mobile phones, for instance, integrate processors, RF amplifiers, antennas, and passive components into a compact and robust form factor. The processors and amplifiers can dissipate significant heat, which requires proper heat transfer design. In addition, the high-speed digital signal lines, microwave transmission lines, and interconnects must be designed to maintain the integrity of the signal. The antennas in mobile phones are often integrated into the case or circuit boards and radiate not only away from the phone but also into the phone circuits. This means that sensitive circuits in the phone must be designed to minimize coupling of the phone’s wireless signals that can cause undesirable effects such as oscillations or resonances in the circuits. Passive components must be carefully chosen and implemented because their physical size is a significant fraction of a wavelength at the operating frequency. As a result, the passive components may no longer function as ideal capacitors, inductors, or resistors. Rather, they may have distributed effects that must be taken into account to achieve desired performance. For these reasons, and others, the task of electronic packaging is widely recognized as a critically important task for development of products operating at microwave and millimeter-wave frequencies.