Reconfigurable micromachined antenna with polarization diversity for mm-wave applications

Abstract

In this paper a novel MEMS antenna with reconfigurable polarization operating at 60 GHz is presented. This antenna can provide vertical linear polarization, horizontal linear polarization, left hand circular polarization (LHCP), or right hand circular polarization (RHCP) based on the states of the switches present in the feeding network. The proposed antenna is characterized by having its radiating elements isolated from the feeding circuitry via a ground plane without the need for wafer bonding or hybrid integration. Such advantage results in good electric performance while maintains low fabrication cost. The antenna parameters are optimized using HFSS and the results are cross-validated using CST. The good agreement between the two simulators, confirms that the proposed antenna enjoys attractive radiation characteristics for all polarization senses. © 2012 IEEE.