Wireless power transmission for RF-MEMS devices integrated into large-scale radiating apertures

Abstract:
Micro-Electro-Mechanical switches (MEMS) are being extensively studied for reconfigurable antenna applications at microwave and millimeter-wave frequencies due to their outstanding RF performances. Some of the most innovative antenna structures currently under investigation are large radiating apertures such as frequency-selective surfaces, reflect-arrays, or transmit-arrays. Such antennas are composed of hundreds or thousands of antenna elements, each of them connected to one or several switches. One important challenge in their realization is the very complex bias and control wired network that has to be integrated among the radiating elements without detrimental impact on the radiation performances. Although the principles of reconfigurable radiating apertures are well known, they have not been demonstrated yet with MEMS devices, with the exception of [1] where the biasing scheme was very simple. In this paper, we present and demonstrate for the first time a remotely-powered bistable RF-MEMS switc, actuated through a 2.45 GHz signal. The energy requirements are derived and measured, showing a minimum input power of 0 dBm and an overall efficiency of the order of 9%.