Switched Beam Antenna Based on RF MEMS SPDT Switch on Quartz Substrate

Abstract

This letter demonstrates a 20-GHz radio frequency microelectromechanical system (RF MEMS)-based electrically switchable antenna on a quartz substrate. Two quasi-Yagi antenna elements are monolithically integrated with a single-pole double-throw (SPDT) MEMS switch router network on a 21 mm times 8 mm chip. Electrical beam steering between two opposite directions is achieved using capacitive MEMS SPDT switches in the router. Port impedance and radiation patterns are studied numerically and experimentally. Measured results show that the switched beam antenna features a 27% impedance bandwidth (S <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">11</sub> = -10 dB), a gain of 4.6 dBi, and a front-to-back ratio of 14 dB at 20 GHz when the control voltage is applied to one of the switch pairs of the SPDT switch.