Smart Antenna using MTM-MEMS

Georgina Rosas', Roberto Murphy', Wilfrido Moreno"

a Department of Electronics, National Institute of Astrophysics, Optics and
Electronics, 72840, Puebla, MEXICO
b Department of Electrical Engineering, University of South Florida, 33620
Tampa, Florida
girosas@inaoep.mx, rmurphy@ieee.org, moreno@eng.usf.edu
Abstract - This article presents the design of a novel and
compact coplanar antenna using Metamaterials (MTM) and
Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS). The antenna is
based on coplanar waveguide (CPW) technology; therefore,
the signal and ground are on the same plane, presenting
lower dielectric losses and high signal integrity. The
designed antenna can be tuned in the frequency range from
5.3 to 5.8 GHz by MEMS capacitors, and it is useful for
wireless communications applications, especially beam
steering systems. Finally, the design, 3D full-wave
simulations and MEMS simulations are presented.
Index Terms - Metamaterial (MTM), Transmission Line
(TL), Coplanar (CPW), Composite Right/Left Handed
(CRLH), Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS).
Fig. 1. Proposed antenna using MTM and MEMS
I. INTRODUCTION
II. MTM-MEMS ANTENNA
Nowadays, with the advent of RF technology, electronic
products demand more functions and higher performance,
reduced dimensions and higher speeds, and higher output
at a lower cost. The state-of-the-art in this technology
requires the fusion of emerging technologies such as
Metamaterials (MTM) and Micro Electro Mechanical
Systems (MEMS) [1]-[4]. Together, they can
revolutionize electronics by providing very small and
reliable "smart circuits" at a minimal cost.
Metamaterials are new artificial materials, that present
unique electromagnetic properties, which are controllable
and are not present in any known natural environment.
Research in this field opens up new ways for innovation
in communications, based on original designs that exploit
singular properties such as simultaneously negative
permittivity (e) and permeability (u), with antiparallel
group velocity (v
g
) and phase velocity (v
p
) , and negative
refractive index (n) [5]-[6].
The proposed smart antenna consists of a CRLH-MTM
structure with MEMS capacitors and four inductors
connected to ground, as displayed in Figure I. In this
paper, a particular design, determining all quantities of
interest is presented.
The parameters (L
R
, C
R
, LL, C
L
) of a composite
right/left handed Metamaterial (CRLH-MTM) structure
are determined using the equations developed by [3] and
following the methodology described in [7]. Using these,
the values listed in Figure 2 are obtained:
LH
Fig. 2. Circuit Equivalent of a basic cell CRLH TL-MTM with
L
R
= 1.437 nH, C
L
= 0.524 pF, C
R=5747
pF, LL= 1.31nH.
978-1-4244-6689-0/10/$26 .00 20 10 IEEE
where Keff is the effective stiffness and go is the initial
gap, and all the other variables defined previously.
Figure 3 shows the displacement of the movable
electrode and the associated capacitance variation as a
function of applied voltage, as given by (2). Furthermore,
a detailed electric-mechanical analysis has been
performed using Coventorware [II].
where eo, is the free space permittivity, e; is the relative
permittivity, W is the design width (W=596/lm), L the
length (L=596/lm) and d is the gap between electrodes
(d=1-+5/lm).
Using these values in Equation (I), the capacitance
varies from 0.69 to 1.57 pF, while the gap between plates
can vary up to 4 microns.
The structure of the variable capacitor is considered
MEMS's techniques such as: dimples, holes, and some
others that support functional stability, operation and a
proper release of the structure [8-10].
In a real MEMS capacitor structure, the situation is
more complicated than a simple lumped design. However,
it happens to be a mechanic and elastic element, therefore
it has instability points determined by the pull-in voltage;
in electrostatic MEMS this is called the pull-in instability.
The pull-in voltage equation can be defined as: [10]:
2
1.8

1.6
iL
1.4
.eo
1.2
Q)
o
1
c
2
0.8 1='=- ' 0
'"
Co 0.6
'" o 0.4
0.2
0
0 5
5
4.5
'" -=ellc 4 0
3
'"
_." =--'- = 2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
o
10 15 20 25 30
Voltage [V]
To avoid collapse, dimples were defmed for the second
level. Furthermore, these give the structure a more robust
mechanical stability. The dimples were designed using
the criteria for SUMMIT V [12] and 3D full-wave
electromagnetic field simulations for radio frequency
(RF), to obtain optimal results.
Figure 4(a) ilustrates a schematic of the MEMS
capacitor with all integrated elements (dimples and
holes).
Figure 4(b) shows stress simulations along the y axis.
The different shades in Figure 4(b) indicate the
distribution of mechanical stresses along the length of the
positive (mobile) electrode.
The MEMS capacitor was simulated under electrostatic
actuation, as is shown in Figure 4(c). The electrostatic
analysis was performed sweeping the applied voltage
from 0 to 24V, obtaining a variation of 0 to 3 microns
approximately. The effective stiffuess (Keg} can be
obtained from for mechanic-electrostatic analysis. This
has been extract from Coventorware simulations, and
also, was calculated in accordance to [9] and [10].
Fig. 3. Displacement of mobile electrode and capacitance as a
function of applied voltage.
(a)
(I)
(2)
A. MEMS Capacitor
The MEMS capacitor consists of two parallel plates
(two electrodes, one mobile-positive and one fixed-
negative), whose capacitance can be varied using the
electrostatic principle.
The MEMS capacitor can be fabricated using the
surface micromachining technique, and it can be
integrated in a CMOS chip. The process under
consideration here is composed of four materials and five
levels of masks on a silicon wafer (100 orientation,
p>4000 Q.cm) acting as the mechanical support.
Titanium (Ti) and Gold (Au) are used as structural
materials, with one suspended level for mechanical
structures, and SU8 is used as the sacrificial material.
Silicon dioxide SiOz and BenzoCyclobutene BCB are
used as dielectrics.
The capacitance between parallel plates is determined
by:
(b)
(c)
Fig. 4. Coventorware simulations (a) Sketch of MEMS
capacitor with dimples and holes, (b) MEMS capacitor stress
simulations along the y axis, and (c) Simulations along the z
axis of a parallel-plate capacitor with an applied voltage of24V.
III. SIMULATION RESULTS
In this paper, the smart antenna was simulated in HFSS
vlO from Ansoft Corporation using it as a 3D full-wave
electromagnetic field solver, using a high resistivity
silicon substrate and a gold conducting layer with a
thickness of 3 J.1m to reduce losses. The layout for the
antenna only (without an integrated DC bias line) using
an MTM-MEMS CRLH-TL basic cell of dimensions
1.397mm X 2.022mm, is shown in Fig. 5(a). It has a
1/37.02 "-0 x 1/25.5 "-0 footprint and is among the smallest
in the literature, where "-0 is the free space wavelength.
Figure 5(b) shows the details of the MEMS capacitor as a
tuning element. The dimple size is 15 x 15 J.1m for the
mobile electrode and is of 25 x 25 J.1m for the support
structure of the fixed electrode. The dimple base is
isolated. The hole size is 15 x 15 J.1m. Each MEMS
capacitor has ten holes.
The antenna, consisting of two double MEMS
capacitors and four inductors connected to ground,
presents the following characteristics: The capacitor uses
an area of 596J.1m x 596J.1m, and presents a nominal value
of 1.048pF. The spiral inductor dimension are 200f..lm X
200J.1m, with a strip width of 20J.1m and a line spacing of
10J.1m, and provides an inductance value of 1.31nH. This
structure was designed for a central frequency of 5.8GHz.
The coplanar line (CPW) is designed for a characteristic
impedance of 500. The line spacing is 50J.1m and the
signal line width is 78J.1m.
Figure 6(a) shows the simulation results for the SII
dispersion parameter. The simulated return losses at the
point m, = 5.8GHz is -16.10dB with a 4% bandwidth
(defined by ISIII < lOdB). This full wave simulation
considers the design aspects for the MEMS capacitors,
such as dimples and holes. This simulation shows greater
losses than the previous simulation shown in Figure 8.
Figure 6b shows the radiation pattern for the antenna
resonating at 5.8GHz.
(a)
Mobile Electrode
Holes
(b)
Fig. 5. (a) Layout of the smart antena of a cell MTM and (b)
Details distribuition of dimples and holes.
The dispersion curve of the MTM-MEMS cell antenna
is plotted in Figure 7 for a transition frequency of
5.8GHz, with Beta = O. It shows the typical characteristics
of a structured metamaterial ; the negative sign of the
slope demonstrates the existence of the negative phase
velocity.
The dispersion curve is obtained from a zero-resonator
structure using the unwrapped phase ofS
21

The CPW RF choke is designed for a central frequency

of 5.8GHz and has a length of 2.58mm, and it is loaded
with a capacitance ofO.845pF, as shown in Figure 9(a). It
/
/
:
RH
l,..-/
1.-
:--
. . . ~ I Transition
--r I I Frequency
~
- LHt-=[ I -
I I I ~
I I I I I I I I
20
18
16
14
N
I 12
(9 10
8
6
4
2
o
is implemented on chip in the same fabrication processes
that the smart antenna. The CPW transmision line is of
the meander type, with a length of 90 electric degrees,
which makes it possible to achieve high impedance ( >
1,500n at 5.3 to 5.8GHz) bias line which does not impact
on the microwave performance of the device, as shown in
Figure 9(b). The coplanar bias-T line is designed to have
a characteristic impedance of 50n. The line spacing is
50!!m, and the signal line width is 13!!m.
000
o 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200
beta
FrP.qup.ocv[Gltl}
5-
-s.oo
~ . 1 0 . 0 0
iir 1500
.20.00
I I
---v. r-
L .: a. lU.UU lL ."-J a .' U "-J LU. ,"
Fig. 7. Dispersion Diagram. It shows a frequency transition at
5.8GHz and a beta = O.
en
'0
~ -10-
~
en
;:- -15-
(a)
~
Ui
-20-
o
I I I I I I I I I
2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Gai nTot a l
1.0737e-002
1 . easse-eez
9, 4018e-012J3
8 , 7343e- e 0S
8 . 066ge-012J3
7 , S9gSe-e0S
6 .7 321e-eeS
6 .0647e-003
5 , S973 e-0e3
If . 72 98e - C0 S
If .0624e-003
3 . S9S0 e - 0 03
2 , 7276e - 00 3
2.0602e -003
1 . S927e- 00 3
7.2533e-004
5 , 7911e-005
(b)
Fig. 6. (a) Simulated return loss of the antena with the following
resonance frequencies m, = 5.8 GHz, and (b) Radiation pattern
for the antenna resonating at 5.8 GHz.
Figure 8 shows the simulation results for the 8
11
dispersion parameter, considering the change in
capacitance. The simulated return losses at points m, =
5.3GHz and m2= 5.8GHz are -13.747 dB and - 20.15dB,
respectively. This implies that the response of the antenna
is very good at this range. The behavior can be improved
overall by increasing the number of cells.
freq, GHz
Fig.8. Simulated return loss of the smart antena with the
following resonance frequencies m, = 5.3GHz, mz = 5.8GHz.
IN
OUT
(a)
Freq..oency (GHzj
000
Freq..oency lGHzj
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
REFERENCES
its on-going support in the fabrication process of the
device.
[I] C. Caloz and T. Itoh, "Application of the transmissionline
theory ofleft-handed (LH) materials to the realizationof a
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USNCIURSI National Radio Science Meeting, vol. 2, San
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[2] C. Caloz and T. Itoh, "Novel microwave devices and
structures based on the transmission line approach of
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[3] Christophe Caloz and Tatsuo Itoh , "Electromagnetic
Metamaterials: TransmissionLine Theory and Microwave
Applications", Copyright 2006, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
[4] Wei Tong, Zhirun Hu, Hong Chua, Philip Curtis, et al
"Left-Handed Metamaterial Coplanar Waveguide
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[5] V.G. Veselago. "The electrodynamics of substances with
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[6] R. A. Shelby, D. R. Smith, and S. Schultz. "Experimental
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[7] G. Rosas, R. Murphy and A. Corona, "Metamaterial
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Workshop Iberchip, Buenos Aires-Argentina, March
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[8] A Dec. K. Suyama, "Micromachined Electro-
Mechanically Tunable capacitors", IEEE Transactions
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[9] S. Pamidighantam, R. Puers, et ai, "Pull-in Analysis of
Electrostatically Actuated Beam Structures with Fixed-
Fixed and Fixed-Free end Conditions", 1. of
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[10] David A. Czaplewski, Christopher W. Dyck, "A Soft
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[I 1] Coventorware,
http://www.coventor.com/coventorware.html
[1 2] Sandia National Laboratories,
http://www.mems.sandia.gov/
I !
I
- Impedance
I
I
f
I
-
I
J ~ I
LO ow o. 'UW OL
Rkturn Ldss
L' . ow c r OUeN OL
Fig. 9. (a) Layout of DCbias-T line for the antenna and (b) SII
and Zin simulationresults of a CPW bias-T line.
IV. CONCLUSION
This paper has shown the design of a Smart MTM
antenna, using MEMS capacitors and considering the
most important factors in order to achieve mechanical
stability in the antenna performance using dimples and
holes. Additionally, the MEMS capacitor is a radiant
element, as well as a MTM structure. In the fabrication
process, the metal has been considered thicker in order to
avoid conductor losses by the skin effect at low
frequencies. This work has shown that MTM-MEMS
technologies allow to simultaneously add variability,
small size (much less than "-/4), broader bandwidth, low
losses and design flexibility. These simulations encourage
the fabrication of the structure, which will be undertaken
in the near future.
The authors wish to acknowledge CONACyT, Mexico,
for the partial support of this work through Grant 83774-
Y. Georgina Rosas also thanks CONACyT for the
scholarship to undertake doctoral studies, Number
102735 and for the support in carrying out this research.
Special recognition to the Nanomaterials &
Nanomanufacturing Research Center (NNRC) at USF for
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