A millimeter-wave elastomeric microstrip phase shifter

International audienceThis communication reports an innovative lowcost millimeter-wave microstrip phase shifter using the mechanical reconfiguration of a metallized polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) elastomeric ground plane. The reconfigurable ground plane is used to tune an air gap under a fused quartz substrate, inducing a change of the effective dielectric constant in a microstrip line, leading to a phase shift that can be continuously adjusted. The phase shifter is studied both numerically and experimentally in the 30-60 GHz band, and its fabrication using flexible electronics micromachining advances is detailed. The maximum experimental figure-of-merit is 118°/dB at 57.5 GHz and can be further improved