Review of semiconductor microwave phase shifters

The electronically controlled phased array radar antenna has received considerable attention in the last decade. Requiring no mechanical motion for steering, it can scan in microseconds or, with some phase control elements, in nanoseconds. Even multiple beams can be formed electronically. In the future, for almost every antenna steering application, the electrically steered array will be desired provided cost, reliability, power handling capability, bandwidth, and insertion loss can be made comparable with the mechanical systems. At present, only the electronic array can be used to achieve microsecond steering. Both ferrite and semiconductor media have undergone serious development to meet the task of controlling rapidly the phase of the signals applied to elemental radiators in the phased array. In this paper, an attempt is made to review the progress and potential of the discrete increment, semiconductor controlled, microwave phase shifter.