New tunable RF MEMS microinductors design
Résumé
This paper outlines the capabilities of RF MEMS tunable microinductors designed using mechanical displacements that change the magnetic coupling coefficient between circuits. The design and fabrication of a first and an optimized second tunable microinductor prototype are presented. We report a 50% inductance variation from 1.5 to 5 GHz measured on the first test wafers. Moreover, these tunable inductors, which have continuous variations, can be integrated with tunable capacitors into reconfigurable RF systems suitable for future wideband RF communications. The design of basic functions, such as a simple phase shifter cell or a tunable impedance, is lastly described.