A novel MEMS-based wideband frequency tunable microstrip patch antenna

Author

Mirzajani, Hadi ; Nasiri, Mahdi ; Ghavifekr, Habib Badri

Author_Institution

Electr. Eng. Dept., Sahand Univ. of Technol., Tabriz, Iran

fYear

2012

fDate

15-17 May 2012

Firstpage

1383

Lastpage

1387

Abstract

This paper presents a novel micromachined wideband frequency tunable microstrip patch antenna. The fabrication process of the proposed reconfigurable antenna system is composed of a process combination of bulk and surface micromachining. Thermal actuation is employed as the driving mechanism. The out-of-plane motion of the thermal actuators normal to the antenna surface deflects the patch downward respect to the fixed ground plane. This deflection decreases the air gap height beneath the patch and consequently, resonant frequency of the antenna. The up-state operating frequency of the antenna is 22.19GHz. A tuning range of 334MHz is achieved by the CMOS compatible actuation voltage of 2.65V. Simulations show a bandwidth of 1.26 and 1.17GHz for up and down-state (5μm deflection) positions, respectively. The microwave performance of the antenna and its mechanical behavior is investigated by finite-element analysis and good radiation pattern and return loss are obtained within the tuning range.

Keywords

CMOS integrated circuits; UHF antennas; UHF integrated circuits; antenna radiation patterns; broadband antennas; field effect MMIC; finite element analysis; microactuators; micromachining; microstrip antennas; CMOS compatible actuation; MEMS-based wideband frequency tunable microstrip patch antenna; air gap height; antenna radiation pattern; bandwidth 1.17 GHz; bandwidth 1.26 GHz; bulk micromachining; fabrication process; finite-element analysis; fixed ground plane; frequency 22.19 GHz; frequency 334 MHz; mechanical behavior; micromachined wideband frequency tunable microstrip patch antenna; reconfigurable antenna system; resonant frequency; return loss; surface micromachining; thermal actuation; voltage 2.65 V; CMOS integrated circuits; Conductivity; Micromechanical devices; Microwave technology; Resists; Resonant frequency; Silicon; Microstrip antenna; frequency tuning; microelectromechanical systems (MEMS); micromachining; thermal actuator;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Electrical Engineering (ICEE), 2012 20th Iranian Conference on

Conference_Location

Tehran

Print_ISBN

978-1-4673-1149-6

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/IranianCEE.2012.6292574

Filename

6292574