Abstract
A 3-bit Microelectromechanical system (MEMS) digital attenuator is designed with 0∼20GHz bandwidth, the attenuation ranges from 0 to 35dB with 5dB step. The attenuator, with the coplanar waveguide (CPW), is implemented by surface sacrificial layer technology. The DC-contact MEMS switches are placed around the T type resistor network (RN), making the switches in minimum number and the structure compact. Air bridges are adopted to improve the flatness of the attenuation in band. Through the lumped parameter method, the attenuator has good terminal matches in different attenuation states. The test results show that eight different attenuation states are realized within 0∼20GHz. Attenuation deviation is less than ±5%, the insertion loss is about −2dB and the return loss is less than −12dB under most of the attenuation states. For MEMS switches and CPW being adopted, the attenuator has advantages of the higher linearity and the lower power consumption. The chip size is about 3.2mm2 including pad.
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