Lacroix 2008
Lacroix 2008
Lacroix 2008
W/G 80/60 m
r /ef f 3.78/2.39
RLmax 15 dB
fb 46 GHz
s 660 m
Zu /Zd 59.8/41.8
Cup /Cdown 126/40.7 f F
15 deg.
n90 /n180 6/12
the low frequency amplifier. Fig. 4 shows a typical switching fb is the Bragg frequency,
time measurement for our switched capacitor. We estimate the ef f is the effective dielectric constant.
switching time is around 1.2 s. Table I presents the different parameters of the designed
In the next part, we show how to implement these miniature phase shifter operating at 20 GHz. The coplanar waveguide
RF MEMS switched capacitors to fabricate two 1-bit 90 line is built on a quartz substrate (r = 3.78, tan =
and 180 degree Distributed MEMS Transmission Lines phase 0.0009) with a characteristic impedance Z0 of 85 (W/G =
shifters. 80m/60m). The maximum return loss desired RLmax and
the Bragg frequency fb are chosen to be respectively 15 dB
III. D ESIGN OF A FAST DMTL P HASE S HIFTER and 46 GHz, resulting in a spacing s of 660 m, found with
The principle of the DMTL phase shifter presented here Eq. 2. The up-state and down-state loaded-line impedances are
is to cascade n (6 or 12) unit cells each loaded by two 59.8 and 41.8 with up- and down- state capacitances Cup
fast miniature RF MEMS switched capacitors to provide an and Cdown respectively of 40.7 f F and 126 f F for each unit
impedance transformation, allowing a phase shift along the cell, resulting in a phase shift of 15 degrees, calculated
total length of the line. The desired phase shift (90 or 180 with Eq. 1. 6 and 12 cascaded unit cells are respectively
degrees) is obtained by cascading n. phase shift unit cells, required to achieve the total desired 90 and 180 degree phase
where is given by Eq. 1: shift.
A. Unit Cell
360f sZ0 ef f
1 1 40 m miniature bridges cannot link ground planes over
= degrees/section (1)
c Zu Zd the transmission line as in standard designs, due to their small
479
Fig. 5. The designed unit cell
(a)
IV. RF M EASUREMENTS
Insertion loss, return loss and phase shift measurements for
(c)
both 90 and 180 degree phase shifters have been done with a
HP 8722ES network analyzer using a Single-Open-Load-Thru Fig. 7. Measured and modeled (a) return loss, (b) insertion loss, and (c)
calibration technique. The results are presented Fig. 7 and Fig. phase shift of the 90 degree phase shifter (6 cells)
8. For the 90 degree phase shifter, return loss less than 13
dB and a 95.3 degree phase shift have been measured at 20
switched RF MEMS capacitors actuating at 25 V with a
GHz. Insertion loss is better than 0.8 dB at up- and down-
measured switching time of 1.2 s. We have fabricated two
state positions.
90 and 180 degree 1-bit phase shifters and measured good
For the 180 degree phase shifter, return loss is less than
return loss (respectively 13 dB and 11 dB) and insertion
11 dB for a 173.5 degree measured phase shift at the
loss (respectively better than 0.8 dB and 1.8 dB). These 1-bit
operation frequency. Insertion loss is better than 1.8 dB at both
sections can be cascaded to obtain a multibit phase shifter.
states. For each phase shifter, miniature RF MEMS switched
The principle of fast DMTL shown in this paper can also be
capacitors are actuated with a 25 V unipolar bias voltage.
applied to matching networks or impedance tuners.
V. C ONCLUSIONS
We have demonstrated a novel topology of Distributed
MEMS Transmission Lines phase shifters with miniature
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R EFERENCES
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