A V-band micromachined 2-D beam-steering antenna driven by magnetic force with polymer-based hinges

Abstract

This paper presents a new type of antenna fabricated by micromachining technology for mechanical beam steering with two degrees of freedom of motion. A V-band two-dimensional mechanical beam-steering antenna was designed and fabricated on a single high-resistivity silicon substrate using microelectromechanical systems technologies. A fabricated antenna is driven by magnetic force to overcome the limit of electrostatic actuation, and a polymer-based hinge structure is used to increase the maximum scanning angle to as much as 40/spl deg/. Simulation result for validating the mechanical beam-steering concept is presented. In addition, mechanical properties such as static actuation angles are investigated together with microwave properties such as the return loss and radiation pattern at the V-band.