Does Low Cost Large Panel Processing mean Low Performance?

The Large Area Processing for thinfilm substrates can be used to reduce the cost per layer per area significantly. Various process setups exist to achieve this goal, and they differ in terms of process tolerances and cost. As different process tolerances result in different performance tolerance bands of the produced structures, customers may want to chose the right process to obtain sufficient quality. This paper presents the cross links between the two aspects quality and cost. Taking two process setups with different interconnect metalization width and dielectric thickness uniformity tolerances, we demonstrate the impact on integrated RF elements as microstrips, inductors, and antennas. Our findings show that it is suitable to offer customers two alternative types of processes: a tighter-tolerance process for highperformance RF applications, and a lower-cost process for less demanding products.