Reconfigurable defected ground microstrip phase shifter using micromachined membranes

Author

Shoa, Tina ; Shafai, C.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., Manitoba Univ., Winnipeg, Man., Canada

Volume

3

fYear

2004

Firstpage

1233

Abstract

A MEMS based microstrip phase shifter is discussed in this paper. The proposed phase shifter is fabricated in the ground plane beneath a microstrip transmission line. An aperture is first fabricated in the ground plane beneath the transmission line, forming a defected structure. A micro-spring supported thin film copper membrane is fabricated within the aperture, leaving a thin slot surrounding the copper membrane around its perimeter. Slot dimensions define a static phase shift from a normally continuous ground plane. Analog phase shift control is achieved by actuating the flexible membrane away from the transmission line. Simulation results show that for a membrane measuring 1.8 × 1 mm in an aperture measuring 2 × 2 mm, a phase shift of 25.2° is achieved for a 10 μm deflection of the membrane, 30.9° for 50 μm deflection, and 32.2° for 100 μm deflection.

Keywords

copper; membranes; micromechanical devices; microwave phase shifters; phase control; MEMS; analog phase shift control; ground plane; micro-spring; micromachined membranes; microstrip phase shifter; microstrip transmission line; reconfigurable defected ground phase shifter; thin film copper membrane; Apertures; Biomembranes; Copper; Micromechanical devices; Microstrip; Phase measurement; Phase shifters; Transistors; Transmission line measurements; Transmission lines;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Electrical and Computer Engineering, 2004. Canadian Conference on

ISSN

0840-7789

Print_ISBN

0-7803-8253-6

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/CCECE.2004.1349619

Filename

1349619