Ka-band RF MEMS phase shifters for phased array applications

• Published in: 2000 IEEE Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits (RFIC) Symposium Digest of Papers (Cat. No.00CH37096) pp. 195 - 199
• Main Authors: Pillans, B., Eshelman, S., Malczewski, A., Ehmke, J., Goldsmith, C.
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: IEEE 2000
• Subjects: Insertion loss; MMICs; Phase shifters; Phased arrays; Propagation losses; Radio frequency; Radiofrequency microelectromechanical systems; Resonance; Switches; Transmission lines
• ISBN: 0780362802; 9780780362802
• ISSN: 1529-2517; 2375-0995
• DOI: 10.1109/RFIC.2000.854447

RF MEMS switches provide a cheap and effective way to substantially reduce loss in RF and microwave MMICs. In this paper, progress in building low loss Ka-band phase shifters using RF MEMS capacitive switches is demonstrated. Using a switched transmission line 4-bit resonant phase shifter, an average insertion loss of 2.25 dB was obtained with better than 15 dB return loss. A similar 3-bit phase shifter produced an average insertion loss of 1.7 dB with better than 13 dB return loss. A simple, low loss way to package these devices is also presented.