Ultra compact & light weight T/R module constructed by hermetic wafer-Scale Assembly technology

Present systems requirements are increasingly challenging and complex and this trend is likely to increase rapidly for future systems. There are increased requirements in all aspects of the technology capability such as increased speed, bandwidth, output power, gain, and reduced size, weight and power (SWAP), and also cost and fabrication cycle time. To meet these requirements, it is not enough to use one single semiconductor technology but to combine or integrate several high performance technologies in an efficient and cost effective way. The combination of two or more dissimilar microelectronic technologies,or heterogeneous integration, leads to a significant higher design flexibility and performance and lower SWAP. Northrop Grumman Space Technology has demonstrated multi-functional front end circuits utilizing NGST's wafer-Scale Assembly (WSA) technology. In this paper, results of WSA packaged MMICs will be discussed.