A RF-MEMS (radio-frequency microelectromechanical-system) based DPDT (double pole double throw) switch for the Ku band has been designed and analyzed for this article. The switch topology is based on the FG-CPW (finite ground-coplanar waveguide) configuration of a microstrip-transmission line. An FEM-based multiphysics solver is used for the evaluation of the spring constant, stress distribution, and pull-in voltage regarding the requirements of the switch-beam unit. The electromagnetic performance of the switch is investigated for a 675 μm thick silicon substrate. For the operational frequency of 14.5 GHz, an insertion loss better than -0.3 dB, a return loss better than -40 dB, and input/output-and output-port isolations better than -35 dB are achieved for the switching unit. Author to whom all correspondence should be addressed: E-mail: harsimran315@gmail.com Copyright ©2017 KIEEME. All rights reserved.This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0) which permits unrestricted noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
17Trans. Electr. Electron. Mater. 18(1) 16 (2017): H. Singh et al.operational tuning frequency, the designed switch results in an insertion loss and a return loss of approximately -0.3 dB and -40 dB, respectively, along with input-input-port (port 1 to port 3) and input-output-port (port 1 to port 4) isolations that are more effective than -36 dB.This designed switch can be efficiently used as an absorptive SPDT switch for mobile-vehicle communications in terms of the routing of the signal between the primary and secondary receivers, the down converter, and the beam-forming APAA (activephased array antenna) network [12]. The details of the design methodology and the RF performance, along with an analysis of the mechanical parameters of the unit-switch beam, are explained in the following sections.
DESIGN METHODOLOGYA DPDT-switching unit with a resonating frequency of 14.5 GHz is designed, for which highly resistive silicon is used as the substrate (ε r=11.8, 675 μm thick, ε >8 kΩ-Cm), and the effective permittivity is derived as follows:Trans. Electr. Electron. Mater. 17(6) 1 (2016): H. Singh et al. 3 operational tuning frequency, the designed switch results in an insertion loss and a return loss of approximately-0.3 dB and -40 dB, respectively, along with input-input-port (port 1 to port 3) and input-output-port (port 1 to port 4) isolations that are more effective than -36 dB.This designed switch can be efficiently used as an absorptive SPDT switch for mobile-vehicle communications in terms of the routing of the signal between the primary and secondary receivers, the down converter, and the beam-forming APAA (activephased array antenna) network [12]. The details of the design methodology and the RF performance, along with an analysis of the mechanical parameters of the unit-switch beam, are explained in the ...