A Ku-band RF-MEMS frequency-reconfigurable multimodal bandpass filter

In this paper, a uniplanar RF-MEMS second-order bandpass filter with reconfigurable center frequency is presented. It is based on quarter-wavelength slotline resonators and coplanar waveguide (CPW)-to-slotline multimodal immitance inverters (MIIs), which are reconfigured using RF-MEMS switchable CPW air-bridges (SABs). The filter can be adequately explained and designed using multimodal theory and circuit models. A surface micromachining process on high-resistivity silicon substrate was used to fabricate the filter. Experimental results show frequency reconfiguration from 12 to 13 GHz, maintaining the same relative bandwidth, and insertion losses of 4.6 and 4.7 dB, respectively.