Title :
Comparative evaluation of MEMS and ferroelectric technologies in phase shifter design
Author :
Isom, R. ; Hawkins, M. ; Richins, J. ; McEwan, S. ; Iskabder, M. ; Grow, R.
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Electr. Eng., Utah Univ., Salt Lake City, UT, USA
Abstract :
Reducing the cost of phased array antennas has become the subject of considerable interest. The most prominent obstacle to this is the cost of current phase shifter elements (p-i-n diodes, MESFETs, ferrite). All of these are expensive, constituting a significant portion of the total receive-array cost. Additionally, p-i-n diodes and MESFETs introduce significant losses. These losses necessitate additional amplification of the signal, thus complicating the overall system design. New developments in MEMS and ferroelectric technologies promise low loss/high performance phase shifters. In this paper, we present a comparative study of the use of these two technologies in phase shifter design.
Keywords :
antenna accessories; antenna phased arrays; ferroelectric devices; micromechanical devices; microwave antenna arrays; microwave phase shifters; millimetre wave antenna arrays; millimetre wave phase shifters; phase shifters; receiving antennas; 1 to 60 GHz; MEMS; MESFET; ferrite; ferroelectric technologies; losses; p-i-n diodes; phase shifter design; phased array antennas; receive-array; Antenna arrays; Costs; Ferrites; Ferroelectric materials; MESFETs; Micromechanical devices; P-i-n diodes; Performance loss; Phase shifters; Phased arrays;
Conference_Titel :
Antennas and Propagation Society International Symposium, 2000. IEEE
Conference_Location :
Salt Lake City, UT, USA
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-6369-8
DOI :
10.1109/APS.2000.875336
