Optimization of surface micromachined patch antenna

Abstract

Although Microelectromechanical system (MEMS) technology has been used extensively in constructing microelectronic and micromechanical structures, there are very few reports on the research and development of MEMS antenna. This paper reports the investigation results of MEMS patch antennas in different shapes and structures. Like conventional patch antenna, MEMS patch antenna has narrow bandwidth, however, it is found among three basic shapes: circular, square and triangular. Square patch antenna has the best overall performance. Two simple methods to improve the performances of MEMS patch antenna are also proposed. When the feed inset position in polysilicon layer of a MEMS microstrip patch antenna is optimized, the impedance bandwidth of the antenna can be enhanced without deteriorating the radiation pattern of the antenna. Also, the resonance frequency of MEMS patch antenna is reduced by etching holes on the radiating patch.