A 20-50 GHz RF MEMS single-stub impedance tuner

A novel radio-frequency (RF) microelectromechanical system (MEMS) single-stub impedance tuner has been developed. The design is based on combining the loaded line technique with the single-stub topology to obtain wide impedance coverage with high |/spl Gamma//sub MAX/|. The tuner consist of ten switched MEMS capacitors producing 1024(2/sup 10/) different impedances. The design has been optimized for noise parameter and load-pull measurements of active devices and shows excellent measured impedance coverage over the 20-50 GHz frequency range.