A Wideband, 1-bit, Electronically Reconfigurable Phase Shifter for High-Power Microwave Phased-Array Applications

Abstract

We present the design and high-power experimental characterization of a wideband, high-power-capable, electronically reconfigurable phase shifter for high-power phased-array applications. The device studied in this work offers an electronically switchable, 1-bit phase shift using the concept of polarization rotation (PR). The PR-based phase shifter is designed to work in a custom-designed, double-ridge (DR) waveguide environment. Two p-i-n diodes are used to control the transmission phase of the signal by rotating the polarization of the incident wave by either <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$+90^\circ$</tex-math> </inline-formula> or <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$-90^\circ$</tex-math> </inline-formula> with respect to that of the incident wave, thereby creating a wideband, 1-bit phase shift between the two states. Simulation results demonstrated that this element can work over one octave bandwidth ranging from 6 to 12 GHz. A prototype of the device was fabricated and experimentally characterized at low and high power levels. The measurement results confirmed the simulations and demonstrated the wideband, high-power-density capability of the device. High-power continuous-wave (CW) experiments were conducted across the entire 6–12 GHz band and demonstrated that the unit-cell-averaged, CW power handling capability of the device exceeds 23.6 W/cm <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$^2$</tex-math> </inline-formula> . High-power pulsed power experiments conducted at 9.382 GHz demonstrated that the unit-cell-averaged, peak power handling capability of the device exceeds 347 W/cm <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$^2$</tex-math> </inline-formula> for short-duration pulses.