Impact of Ground via Placement in Grounded Coplanar Waveguide Interconnects

Methods for higher order parallel plate mode suppression in grounded coplanar waveguides (GCPW) using unique ground via structures are presented in this paper. Suppression of these higher order modes can increase GCPW bandwidth. The ground via fence parameters that affect the bandwidth of the GCPWs are also discussed. Two new structures using staggered ground via fences and with defected side ground planes, for improving GCPW performances while meeting fabrication and routing requirements, are discussed. These two methods improve the interconnect bandwidth by 62.2% and 27.8%, respectively. The measured and simulated results of a test GCPW structure are in close agreement.