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Reliability study of a tunable Ka-band SIW-phase shifter based on liquid crystal in LTCC-technology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 July 2014

Sebastian Strunck ,
Alexander Gaebler ,
Onur H. Karabey ,
Andreas Heunisch ,
Baerbel Schulz ,
Torsten Rabe ,
Ruediger Follmann ,
Juergen Kassner ,
Dietmar Koether  and
Atsutaka Manabe
...Show all authors
Sebastian Strunck*
Affiliation:
Institute of Microwave Engineering and Photonics, Technical University Darmstadt, 64283 Darmstadt, Germany. Phone: +49 6151 16 4367
Alexander Gaebler
Affiliation:
Institute of Microwave Engineering and Photonics, Technical University Darmstadt, 64283 Darmstadt, Germany. Phone: +49 6151 16 4367
Onur H. Karabey
Affiliation:
Institute of Microwave Engineering and Photonics, Technical University Darmstadt, 64283 Darmstadt, Germany. Phone: +49 6151 16 4367
Andreas Heunisch
Affiliation:
Division V.4 Advanced Ceramics, Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing, 12200 Berlin, Germany
Baerbel Schulz
Affiliation:
Division V.4 Advanced Ceramics, Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing, 12200 Berlin, Germany
Torsten Rabe
Affiliation:
Division V.4 Advanced Ceramics, Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing, 12200 Berlin, Germany
Ruediger Follmann
Affiliation:
IMST GmbH, 47475 Kamp-Lintfort, Germany
Juergen Kassner
Affiliation:
IMST GmbH, 47475 Kamp-Lintfort, Germany
Dietmar Koether
Affiliation:
IMST GmbH, 47475 Kamp-Lintfort, Germany
Atsutaka Manabe
Affiliation:
Liquid Crystal Division, Merck KGaA, 64293 Darmstadt, Germany
Rolf Jakoby
Affiliation:
Institute of Microwave Engineering and Photonics, Technical University Darmstadt, 64283 Darmstadt, Germany. Phone: +49 6151 16 4367
*
Corresponding author: S. Strunck Email: strunck@imp.tu-darmstadt.de
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Abstract

A tunable substrate-integrated waveguide phase shifter using low-temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC)-technology is presented in this paper. By changing the effective permittivity in the liquid crystal (LC)-filled waveguide, the differential phase can be tuned continuously. This is achieved by means of an analog signal applied to the electrodes, surrounding the LC. The design allows for precise tuning of the differential phase, which is proven with a Monte Carlo measurement resulting in phase errors of less than 3° at 28 GHz. Besides that, the ambient temperature dependency of the module is shown. The phase shifter has a high integration level and can be included into a complete and lightweight single-phased array antenna module. The phase shifter is realized with a high level of integration which is available through the multilayer process of the LTCC. It has a length of 50 and provides a differential phase shift of more than 360° at 28 GHz. The figure of merit for tunable phase shifters is >40°/dB.

Keywords

Passive components and circuitsNew and emerging technologies and materials
Type
Research Paper
Information
International Journal of Microwave and Wireless Technologies , Volume 7 , Issue 5 , October 2015 , pp. 521 - 527
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and the European Microwave Association 2014 

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References

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