A novel space-filling curve based 180° RF MEMS DMTL phase shifter

Abstract

RF MEMS based 180° phase shifter is proposed which employs a novel fractal geometry based structure. This paper displays in detail the design and fabrication steps conducted on the RF MEMS (Radio Frequency Micro Electro Mechanical Systems) based 180° phase shifter. The novelty of the present work lies in the fact that the entire phase shifter structure follows a unique space-filling curve known as the Peano Curve of the 2nd iteration. The proposed device leads to a generation of 180° phase shift at a frequency of 15GHz and occupies a space of 1mm×0.88mm only as compared to previously reported designs which occupy a space of 8.39mm×0.49mm, with acceptable performance along the entire range of frequencies of interest.