Abstract
The K-band microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) tunable band-pass filter, with a wide-frequency tunable range and miniature size, is able to fulfill the requirements of the multiband satellite communication systems. A novel 21.69–24.36 GHz MEMS tunable band-pass filter is designed, analyzed, fabricated and measured. This paper also designs and analyzes an inductively tuned slow-wave resonator, which consists of the MEMS capacitive switch, the MEMS capacitor and the short metal line. The proposed filter has four different work states by changing the capacitance values of the MEMS switches. Measured results demonstrate that, for all four states, the insertion loss is 2.81, 3.27, 3.65 and 4.03 dB at 24.36, 23.2, 22.24 and 21.69 GHz, respectively. The actuation voltage is 0, 20, 16 and 26 V, respectively. The 3 dB bandwidth of the tunable filter is 5.4%, 6.2%, 5.7% and 5.9%, respectively. This study contributes to the design of miniature millimeter tunable filters with a wide-frequency tunable range.
Highlights
The K-band tunable band-pass filter is one of the essential devices which have been used for modern satellite communication systems and radar systems [1], due to its potential to significantly reduce the overall size and complexity of the systems
radio frequency (RF) MEMS switches have low loss up to the millimeter band and can be integrated [11], and they have been widely used in tunable filters with wide tunable ranges [8,9,10,12]
This paper aims to provide an effective solution for an inductively tuned slow-wave resonator without changing the mechanics of the device, in addition to decreasing the number of MEMS switches and MEMS capacitors
Summary
The K-band tunable band-pass filter is one of the essential devices which have been used for modern satellite communication systems and radar systems [1], due to its potential to significantly reduce the overall size and complexity of the systems. The tune devices for tunable filters contain a radio frequency (RF) MEMS switch, a PIN diode, a stepper motor, a ferroelectric capacitor, a piezoelectric linear actuator and so on. Rebeiz et al [8] presented an analog tunable band-pass filter fabricated on 500-μm-thick quartz wafer, which tuned over a 14% bandwidth from 18.6 to 21.4 GHz. The filter consisted of 18 MEMS capacitive switches, and the voltage of the switch tuned from 80 to 0 V.
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