TY - JOUR
T1 - A Low-Loss Silicon MEMS Phase Shifter Operating in the 550 GHz Band
AU - Rahiminejad, Sofia
AU - Alonso-del Pino, Maria
AU - Reck, Theodore James
AU - Peralta, Alex
AU - Lin, Robert
AU - Jung-Kubiak, Cecile
AU - Chattopadhyay, Goutam
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - This article presents a low-loss silicon microelectrical mechanical system (MEMS) phase shifter operating in the 500-600 GHz band. The phase shifter consists of a \text{30-}\mu \text{m} thick perforated silicon slab that is moved in and out of a waveguide in the E-plane with a large deflection MEMS actuator. By implementing different hexagonal patterns in the silicon slab, a stepped permittivity is created to impedance match, and thus, reduce return loss. When the silicon slab is inserted into the waveguide, the phase velocity of the incoming wave is decreased, thus resulting in different phase shifts depending on the position of the slab inside the waveguide. The MEMS phase shifter is fully actuated at around 50\,{\text{V}} and can move up to \pm 95\,\mu \text{m}, depending on the applied voltage. The insertion loss, when the maximum phase shift is achieved, is measured to be \text{1.8}\,\text{dB}, compared to a 1.6\text{-}\text{dB} insertion loss for a waveguide of equivalent length. The return loss is better than \text{18}\,\text{dB} for the desired band. The measured phase shift, with the slab fully inserted into the waveguide at \text{550}\,\text{GHz} was 145^\circ. The MEMS phase shifter enables a variety of applications including phased array antenna systems with scanning capability for mapping of planetary surfaces with an electronically steerable antenna.
AB - This article presents a low-loss silicon microelectrical mechanical system (MEMS) phase shifter operating in the 500-600 GHz band. The phase shifter consists of a \text{30-}\mu \text{m} thick perforated silicon slab that is moved in and out of a waveguide in the E-plane with a large deflection MEMS actuator. By implementing different hexagonal patterns in the silicon slab, a stepped permittivity is created to impedance match, and thus, reduce return loss. When the silicon slab is inserted into the waveguide, the phase velocity of the incoming wave is decreased, thus resulting in different phase shifts depending on the position of the slab inside the waveguide. The MEMS phase shifter is fully actuated at around 50\,{\text{V}} and can move up to \pm 95\,\mu \text{m}, depending on the applied voltage. The insertion loss, when the maximum phase shift is achieved, is measured to be \text{1.8}\,\text{dB}, compared to a 1.6\text{-}\text{dB} insertion loss for a waveguide of equivalent length. The return loss is better than \text{18}\,\text{dB} for the desired band. The measured phase shift, with the slab fully inserted into the waveguide at \text{550}\,\text{GHz} was 145^\circ. The MEMS phase shifter enables a variety of applications including phased array antenna systems with scanning capability for mapping of planetary surfaces with an electronically steerable antenna.
KW - Gigahertz (GHz)
KW - high frequency
KW - phase shifter
KW - radio-frequency microelectrical mechanical system (RF MEMS)
KW - silicon micromachining, submillimeter wave
KW - WR 1.5
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85107346436&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1109/TTHZ.2021.3085123
DO - 10.1109/TTHZ.2021.3085123
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85107346436
SN - 2156-342X
VL - 11
SP - 477
EP - 485
JO - IEEE Transactions on Terahertz Science and Technology
JF - IEEE Transactions on Terahertz Science and Technology
IS - 5
M1 - 9444643
ER -