Narrow-band switching by means of triangular meta-material resonators based on RF MEMS cantilevers in CPW configuration

Triangular metamaterial resonators, designed by RF MEMS cantilevers in coplanar waveguide (CPW) configuration, have been fabricated on alumina substrate and tested up to 40 GHz. A triangular split ring resonator has been etched in the central conductor of the CPW transmission line and the split is provided by a technologically actuated cantilever beam, i.e. with metal directly deposited without the sacrificial layer, to emulate the ideal actuation. Two main configurations of the triangular transmission line have been studied for narrowband microwave switching, the first one without the MEMS cantilever and the second one with a technologically actuated MEMS cantilever switch. Because of the contributions of both the resonator and the switch, the device has a narrow band switching feature. Moreover, the parameters extraction obtained by both the experiment and the simulation, show a metamaterial behavior of the exploited configuration.