The study of MEMS millimeter wave phase shifter

Several designs of MEMS millimeter-wave phase shifters are presented. They consist of a coplanar waveguide (CPW) transmission line periodically loaded with 8/spl sim/32 metal bridges, functioning as capacitive switches. Every switching element consists of a thin metallic membrane actuated by applied bias. Remarkable phase shifter performances were observed. One MEMS phase shifter reached to 372/spl deg//3.5 mm under 20 V bias at 35 GHz, with an insertion loss (S/sub 21/) of about 4/spl sim/7 dB.