Coplanar Waveguide Slot-coupled Ka-band Patch Antenna for Integration with Wafer-scale Beam-steering MEMS Control Board
Keywords:
Coplanar waveguide, patch antenna, wafer- scale, and MEMSAbstract
A coplanar waveguide (CPW) slot-coupled
K a -band patch antenna is designed, constructed and tested
for subsequent integration with a wafer-scale MEMS-
switched antenna array beam-steering control board. The
antenna is designed for fabrication on a high resistivity
silicon (HRS) wafer ( εr ≈ 11.8) for operation with 25-30
GHz satellite communication systems. A simulated 10 dB
return loss bandwidth of 2.96 GHz (9.8 %) is achieved
with a 4.6 dB peak gain and 110° half-power beamwidth
(HPBW). A scaled prototype at 6 GHz is constructed on
RT/Duroid 6010 substrate ( εr ≈ 10.2) and yields a
measured bandwidth of 360 MHz (6.0 %) and a peak gain
of 4 dB. A CPW feedline / slot misalignment sensitivity
test is conducted through simulations to investigate the
effects that fabrication errors may have on antenna
performance during wafer-scale integration of the patch
antenna onto the HRS substrate. Simulation results show
that slot misalignment less than 200-400 μm should only
minimally affect antenna performance, with the most
significant degradation being a 2.5 – 4.0 % drop in
antenna bandwidth. The successful design of this patch
antenna demonstrates a compact, efficient method for
integration of a CPW slot-coupled K a-band patch antenna
onto a wafer-scale MEMS control board without the need
for additional substrate layers or feedline interconnects,
minimizing total system weight and fabrication
complexity.
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