A novel MEMS impedance tuner simultaneously optimized for maximum impedance range and power handling

Author

Lu, Yumin ; Katehi, Linda P B ; Peroulis, Dimitrios

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., Michigan Univ., Ann Arbor, MI, USA

fYear

2005

fDate

12-17 June 2005

Abstract

This paper introduces a novel design technique for developing microwave MEMS impedance tuners. Unlike existing designs we simultaneously optimize both the impedance coverage and power handling of the tuner. This allows the tuner to be used in real-life load-pull systems where power handling is equally important to impedance tuning. We further increase the power handling by utilizing contact-less MEMS varactors that can reliably handle more than 3.5 W of power. These principles are demonstrated with a 30 GHz tuner that exhibits very wide impedance tuning and an improvement of 4.5 times (compared to conventional MEMS designs) in terms of the power it can deliver.

Keywords

circuit tuning; impedance matching; micromechanical devices; microwave circuits; varactors; 30 GHz; MEMS capacitor; MEMS impedance tuner; contact-less MEMS varactors; impedance tuning; load-pull systems; microwave tuners; power handling; Capacitors; Design optimization; Impedance; Micromechanical devices; Microswitches; Power transmission lines; Radio frequency; Switches; Tuners; Varactors;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Microwave Symposium Digest, 2005 IEEE MTT-S International

ISSN

01490-645X

Print_ISBN

0-7803-8845-3

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/MWSYM.2005.1516775

Filename

1516775