RF MEMS and reconfigurable antennas for communication systems

K. J. Vinoy; Hargsoon Yoon; Taeksoo Ji; Vijay K. Varadan

doi:10.1117/12.479562

16 January 2003 RF MEMS and reconfigurable antennas for communication systems

K. J. Vinoy, Hargsoon Yoon, Taeksoo Ji, Vijay K. Varadan

Proceedings Volume 4981, MEMS Components and Applications for Industry, Automobiles, Aerospace, and Communication II; (2003) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.479562
Event: Micromachining and Microfabrication, 2003, San Jose, CA, United States

Abstract

This paper explores the usefulness of RF MEMS and reconfigurable antennas in the context of modern communication systems and other applications. Simulation studies on a fractal antennas with switches and phase shifters provide beam steering and beam scanning characteristics. A brief description of the design aspects of two MEMS based coplanar waveguide (CPW) phase shifters for microwave and millimeter wave antenna applications are also provided here. One phase shifter design consists of a unique bilateral interdigital structure on a silicon substrate deposited with a thin film of electrically tunable barium strontium titanate. The dielectric constant of the thin film, and hence the effective permittivity of the transmission line changes by the application of a bias voltage. The second device is a distributed microelectromechanical system (MEMS) phase shifter fabricated on a high resistivity silicon substrate using microstereolithography technique is presented here. The distributed MEMS phase shifter consists of a high-impedance CPW transmission line and several MEMS bridges of uniform height. By applying a voltage the height of these bridges can be adjusted. This results in a variation in the distributed capacitance of the segment of the transmission line, which manifests in the phase shift at the output terminal. The fabrication procedure described here shows significant promise for the use of microstereolithography techniques for RF MEMS devices.

Citation Download Citation

K. J. Vinoy, Hargsoon Yoon, Taeksoo Ji, and Vijay K. Varadan "RF MEMS and reconfigurable antennas for communication systems", Proc. SPIE 4981, MEMS Components and Applications for Industry, Automobiles, Aerospace, and Communication II, (16 January 2003); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.479562

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available