A Ka-band 3-bit RF MEMS true-time-delay network

Jonathan B. Hacker, Robert E. Mihailovich, Moonil Kim, Jeffrey F. DeNatale

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    72 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    A monolithic Ka-band true-time-delay (TTD) switched-line network containing 12 metal-to-metal contact RF microelectromechanical system switches has been successfully fabricated and characterized on a 75-μm-thick GaAs substrate. The compact 9.1-mm2 TTD network was designed to produce flat delay time over a dc-to-40-GHz bandwidth with full 360° phase control at 45° intervals at 35 GHz. Measurements show a match to within 2% to the designed delay times at 35 GHz for all eight switch states with 2.2-dB average insertion loss over all states. Peak rms phase error is 2.28° and peak rms amplitude error is 0.28 dB from dc to 40 GHz. Return loss better than 15 dB from dc to 40 GHz for all eight states confirms the circuit's broad-band operation.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)305-308
    Number of pages4
    JournalIEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques
    Volume51
    Issue number1 II
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2003 Jan

    Bibliographical note

    Funding Information:
    Manuscript received April 23, 2002. This work was supported by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency/Special Projects Office under Contract MDA972-00-3-0003. J. B. Hacker, R. E. Mihailovich, and J. F. DeNatale are with Rockwell Scientific, Thousand Oaks, CA 91360 USA. M. Kim is with Rockwell Scientific, Thousand Oaks, CA 91360 USA and also with the Electrical Engineering Department, Korea University, Seoul 136-701, Korea. Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TMTT.2002.806508 Fig. 1. 3-bit RF MEMS phase shifter. The substrate is 75-m–thick semi-insulating GaAs with 2.1-m-thick gold traces. The circuit is 3.5 2.6 mm in size.

    Keywords

    • Phase shifter
    • RF microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) devices
    • Radar antennas
    • True-time delay (TTD)

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Radiation
    • Condensed Matter Physics
    • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

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