Reconfigurable ground plane membranes for analog/digital microstrip phase shifters and frequency agile antenna

A new type of RF MEMS device is presented for microstrip transmission line phase shifters and frequency agile patch antenna. Ground plane membranes are implemented to control local substrate effective dielectric constant and so microstrip device capacitance. Continuous control of transmission line phase shift or antenna resonant frequency is demonstrated. In phase shifter implementation, a figure of merit of over 700/spl deg/ phase shift/dB signal power loss has been achieved. In MPA implementation, a MPA was continuously swept from 16.8 GHz to 17.82 GHz (6% variation). Additionally, while MEM switch devices are limited in power handling capability, the presented device is not so limited.

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