Design, development and characterization of an x-band 5 bit DMTL phase shifter using an inline MEMS bridge and MAM capacitors

Abstract

A radio frequency micro-electro-mechanical system (RF-MEMS) 5 bit phase shifter based on a distributed MEMS transmission line concept with excellent phase accuracy and good repeatability is presented in this paper. The phase shifter is built with three fixed–fixed beams; one is switchable with electrostatic actuation and the other two are fixed for a metal–air–metal (MAM) capacitor. The design is based on a coplanar waveguide (CPW) configuration using alumina substrate. Gold-based surface micromachining is used to develop the individual primary phase bits (11.25°/22.5°/45°/90°/180°), which are fundamental building blocks of the complete 5 bit phase shifter. All of the primary phase bits are cascaded together to build the complete phase shifter. Detailed design methodology and performance analysis of the unit cell phase shifter has been carried out with structural and parametric optimization using an in-line bridge and MAM capacitors. The mechanical, electrical, transient, intermodulation distortion (IMD), temperature distribution, power handling and loss performances of the MEMS bridge have been experimentally obtained and validated using simulations up to reasonable extent. A single unit cell is able to provide 31 dB return loss, maximum insertion loss of 0.085 dB and a differential phase shift of 5.95° (at 10 GHz) over the band of interest. Furthermore, all primary phase bits are individually tested to ensure overall optimum phase shifter performance. The complete 5 bit phase shifter demonstrates an average insertion loss of 4.72 dB with return loss of better than 12 dB within 8–12 GHz using periodic placement of 62 unit cells and a maximum phase error of ±3.2° has been obtained at 10 GHz. Finally, the x-band 5 bit phase shifter is compared with the present state-of-the-art. The performance of the 5 bit phase shifter when mounted inside a test jig has been experimentally investigated and the results are presented. The total area of the phase shifter is 19.4 mm2. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported digital distributed MEMS transmission line type RF-MEMS phase shifter that has undergone different reliability stages.