Beam Switching Reflectarray Monolithically Integrated With RF MEMS Switches

A reflectarray antenna monolithically integrated with 90 RF MEMS switches has been designed and fabricated to achieve switching of the main beam. Aperture coupled microstrip patch antenna (ACMPA) elements are used to form a 10 × 10 element reconfigurable reflectarray antenna operating at 26.5 GHz. The change in the progressive phase shift between the elements is obtained by adjusting the length of the open ended transmission lines in the elements with the RF MEMS switches. The reconfigurable reflectarray is monolithically fabricated with the RF MEMS switches in an area of 42.46 cm² using an in-house surface micromachining and wafer bonding process. The measurement results show that the main beam can be switched between broadside and 40° in the H-plane at 26.5 GHz.