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© 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
MEMS-BASED HIGH-IMPEDANCE
SURFACES FOR MILLIMETER AND
SUBMILLIMETER WAVE APPLICATIONS
Dmitry Chicherin,
1
Sergey Dudorov,
1
Dmitri Lioubtchenko,
1
Victor Ovchinnikov,
2
Sergei Tretyakov,
1
and Antti V. Ra ¨ isa ¨ nen
1
1
Radio Laboratory/SMARAD
Helsinki University of Technology
P.O. Box 3000
FI-02015 TKK, Finland
2
Microelectronics Centre
Helsinki University of Technology
P.O. Box 3500
FI-02015 TKK, Finland
Received 8 June 2006
ABSTRACT: The authors propose to use microelectromechanical sys-
tems (MEMS) to produce novel phase shifters based on an electronically
reconfigurable high-impedance surface (HIS). Typically, HIS is a tex-
tured metal surface with reactive impedance varying from an initial
value to a very high value. Such phase shifters can be developed with
introducing a surface with variable impedance in, e.g., a rectangular
metal or dielectric rod waveguide. Placed along narrow walls of the
rectangular metal waveguide or adjacent to the dielectric waveguide,
the HIS affects the propagation constant, which results in changing the
phase of the propagating wave. The authors manufactured a prototype
of the microelectromechanical systems-based HIS consisting of a dielec-
tric layer placed on a ground plane, and two arrays of metal patches.
The gap between the upper and lower arrays of patches was fixed and
filled with SiO
2
. The measured phase of the wave reflected from the pro-
totype HIS varies in the range of 50°, and its insertion loss is below 0.5
dB (out of resonance). © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt
Technol Lett 48: 2570 –2573, 2006; Published online in Wiley Inter-
Science (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.21997
Key words: MEMS; high-impedance surface; millimeter wave phase
shifter
1. INTRODUCTION
The millimeter and submillimeter wavelength region is of in-
creasing interest for many applications beyond the traditional
radio astronomy and atmospheric remote sensing, namely, se-
cure high-capacity communication systems, spectroscopy, med-
ical diagnostics, radar, etc. Despite a higher price of basic
components, e.g., phase shifters, in comparison with those at
microwaves, millimeter wave systems meet expanding interests
of customers. There are two categories of existing millimeter
wave phase shifters. In the first category, the phase is changed
by adjusting the geometrical parameters of the device, e.g.,
changing the length of a transmission line using semiconductor
switches. Because of the relatively large size, these phase
shifters are not convenient in phased arrays. In the second
category of phase shifters, the material properties of its com-
ponents (e.g., ferroelectrics or ferrites) are altered by applying
magnetic or electric field. Such phase shifters usually are very
lossy at millimeter wavelengths. Therefore, metamaterials [1],
i.e., structures that can be engineered to respond to electromag-
netic fields in unconventional ways, and artificial surfaces can
be a solution. microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) [2]
offer many advantages in manufacturing of metamaterials.
MEMS are miniature structures combining electrical and me-
chanical properties and fabricated by micromachining tech-
niques. MEMS-based devices provide good functional param-
eters, e.g., low losses and reconfigurability, owing to a small
size and a high process precision.
We have proposed [3] to use high-impedance surfaces (HIS)
based on MEMS so as to produce novel millimeter and submil-
limeter wave phase shifters. Typically, HIS is a corrugated
metal surface which impedance can achieve extremely high
values at some frequency range. As a result, the reflection
coefficient of the HIS is equal to 1 208 0° instead of 1 208 180°
as for metal surfaces. Conventional HIS [4] consists of a
two-dimensional capacitive array of metal patches placed on a
grounded dielectric layer. If the period of the array of patches
is much smaller than the wavelength of the field incident on the
HIS or propagating above it, an effective surface impedance
model [1] can be used to characterize the electromagnetic
Figure 1 Frequency dependence of the HIS reflection phase, simulated
Figure 2 MEMS-based reconfigurable HIS
2570 MICROWAVE AND OPTICAL TECHNOLOGY LETTERS / Vol. 48, No. 12, December 2006 DOI 10.1002/mop