Design of Waveguide Switches Using Switchable Planar Bandstop Filters

A new class of TE
₁₀
mode waveguide switch is proposed in this letter. The concept is based on switching planar bandstop filters with monolithically integrated RF MEMS that are placed inside, onto the sidewall, of conventional rectangular waveguides. The design allows electrical switching off a waveguide in specific bands. To illustrate the principle, simulation and measured results are presented for waveguide switches employing 3-pole and 5-pole planar filters. An insertion loss better than 0.3 dB and an isolation better than 14 dB are achieved over a bandwidth of 500 MHz at Ku-band.