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Product category: Analogue and Mixed Signal ICs
News Release from: Memtronics Corp
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial Team on 13 December 2004

Phase shifters for phased array antennas

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A new research contract from the US Army entails the development of low-cost MEMS phase shifters for phased array antennas.

Memtronics has received a research contract from the US Army entitled "Low-cost MEMS phase shifters for phased array antennas" This contract is for the second phase of a small business innovation research project sponsored by the Department of Defense

This programme's focus is on developing low-cost phase shifters for military antenna systems.

This 18-month $729,499 contract will provide advances in design, manufacturing techniques, and packaging concepts necessary for the production and manufacture of low-cost phase shifter circuits that operate in the millimetre-wave frequency range.

These circuits take advantage of Memtronics' development in radio frequency microelectromechanical systems (RF MEMS) to operate with lower loss, less power consumption, and improved linearity compared with conventional electronics technology.

Specific developments on this programme will look at reducing cost, improving reliability, and implementing innovative fabrication and packaging techniques.

This contract is an extension of an SBIR award with the US Missile Defense Agency that Memtronics completed last year.

"The phase shifters being developed during the course of this programme will be fundamental building blocks for next-generation military phased array antennas, having broad applicability to both radar and communications systems", says Dr Chuck Goldsmith, President of Memtronics.

"The technology developed will make significant advances in reducing the fabrication and packaging costs of phase shifter circuits, enabling the development of 'passive' electronically scanned antennas with the potential for an order-of-magnitude lower cost than conventional technology".

"This research will help speed the deployment of these systems in a variety of critical DoD applications".

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