RF Devices - Optically Activated MicroSwitch

An example (see photo right) of a simple Si microswitch within a transmission line. The Si microswitch is diced from wafer of high resistivity (r) silicon (r > 6000 W×cm).

Attributes
The main capabilities of the microswitch may be summarised as follows:

  • Fast Switching. Can be a good candidate for applications required switching speed as fast as 10.5 µs.
  • Low EMC Issues. Light signal used to operate the microswitch does not interfere with EM waves.
  • High Isolation Characteristics. Between 1 – 3 GHz frequency range, the switch gives isolation as high as 23dB.
Potential Applications: The optically operated switch has many potential markets and this could be used for the following applications:
  • RF phase shifter
  • Phased array antennas (phase array enabler)
  • Switched microstrip filters
  • Reconfigurable antennas (Switched/Smart antennas)
  • Tunable metamaterials
  • Millimetre wave technologies such as cameras and scanners
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Did you know? Antrum is developing a range of electrically small footprint antennas that are designed to be hidden or to blend naturally into their surroundings. Contact us for info...

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What products are we developing? Antrum is developing a range of electrically small footprint antennas that are designed to be hidden or to blend naturally into their surroundings.

What applications are these aimed at? Initially the antennas are aimed at TV/DTV, DVDT reception and cellular base station applications for GSM, PCN and UMTS.

Why are Stealthy antennas so important? There is a growing need for low visibility antennas for use in office and commercial environments.

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