Ic structure including porous semiconductor layer in bulk substrate adjacent trench isolation

Abstract

An integrated circuit (IC) structure, a switch and related method, are disclosed. The IC structure includes an active device, e.g., a switch, over a bulk semiconductor substrate, and an isolation structure under the active device in the bulk semiconductor substrate. The isolation structure may include a trench isolation adjacent the active device in the bulk semiconductor substrate, a dielectric layer laterally adjacent the trench isolation and over the active device, and a porous semiconductor layer in the bulk semiconductor substrate under the dielectric layer laterally adjacent the trench isolation. The IC structure employs a lower cost, low resistivity bulk semiconductor substrate rather than a semiconductor-on-insulator (SOI) substrate, yet it has better performance characteristics for RF switches than an SOI substrate.