# US 10,374,324 B2 · Antenna having MEMS-tuned RF resonators > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 10,374,324 B2 - Document ID: US10374324B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 15/485,069 - Filed: 2017-04-11 - Published: 2017-10-19 - Granted: 2019-08-06 - Earliest claimed: 2016-04-15 - Assignees: Kymeta Corporation - Applicants: Kymeta Corporation - Inventors: Ryan Stevenson; Kianoush Naeli; Mohsen Sazegar; Benjamin Sikes; Timothy Mason; Erik Shipton; Nathan Kundtz - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10374324B2 ## CPC - H01Q 21/065: {Patch antenna array} - B81B 3/0086: {Electrical characteristics, e.g. reducing driving voltage, improving resistance to peak voltage} - B81C 1/00158: {Diaphragms, membranes (manufacture process for semi-permeable inorganic membranes B01D67/0039)} - H01G 5/011: Electrodes - H01G 5/16: using variation of distance between electrodes - H01G 5/18: due to change in inclination, e.g. by flexing, by spiral wrapping - H01Q 3/2676: {Optically controlled phased array} - H01Q 3/44: varying the electric or magnetic characteristics of reflecting, refracting, or diffracting devices associated with the radiating element - H01Q 9/0457: {electromagnetically coupled to the feed line} - H01Q 21/0031: {Parallel-plate fed arrays; Lens-fed arrays (multibeam arrays H01Q25/008)} - H01Q 21/0087: {Apparatus or processes specially adapted for manufacturing antenna arrays (manufacturing waveguides H01P11/00)} - H01Q 21/30: Combinations of separate antenna units operating in different wavebands and connected to a common feeder system - H03J 3/02: Details - B81B 2201/0221: Variable capacitors - B81B 2201/0271: Resonators; ultrasonic resonators - B81B 2203/0127: Diaphragms, i.e. structures separating two media that can control the passage from one medium to another; Membranes, i.e. diaphragms with filtering function - B81B 2203/04: Electrodes - B81C 2203/0118: Bonding a wafer on the substrate, i.e. where the cap consists of another wafer - H01Q 7/005: {with variable reactance for tuning the antenna} - H01Q 13/103: {with variable reactance for tuning the antenna (tuning resonant circuits H03J)} - H01Q: ANTENNAS, i.e. RADIO AERIALS (radiators or antennas for microwave heating H05B6/72) - B81B: MICROSTRUCTURAL DEVICES OR SYSTEMS, e.g. MICROMECHANICAL DEVICES (piezoelectric, electrostrictive or magnetostrictive elements per se H10N30/00, H10N35/00) - B81C: PROCESSES OR APPARATUS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR THE MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF MICROSTRUCTURAL DEVICES OR SYSTEMS (making microcapsules or microballoons B01J13/02; processes or apparatus specially adapted for the manufacture or treatment of piezoelectric, electrostrictive or magnetostrictive elements per se H10N30/01) - H01G: CAPACITORS; CAPACITORS, RECTIFIERS, DETECTORS, SWITCHING DEVICES, LIGHT-SENSITIVE OR TEMPERATURE-SENSITIVE DEVICES OF THE ELECTROLYTIC TYPE (selection of specified materials as dielectric H01B3/00; capacitors having potential barriers H10D1/62, H10K10/10) - H03J: TUNING RESONANT CIRCUITS; SELECTING RESONANT CIRCUITS ## Abstract An antenna having radio-frequency (RF) resonators and methods for fabricating the same are described. In one embodiment, the antenna comprises a physical antenna aperture having an array of antenna elements, where the array of antenna elements includes a plurality of radio-frequency (RF) resonators, with each RF resonator of the plurality of RF resonators having an RF radiating element with a microelectromchanical systems (MEMS) device. ## Claims ### Claim 1 An antenna comprising: a physical antenna aperture having an array of antenna elements, wherein the array of antenna elements comprises a plurality of radio-frequency (RF) resonators, each RF resonator of the plurality of RF resonators comprising an RF radiating element with a microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) device, wherein a resonance frequency of each resonator in the plurality of RF resonators is tuned between known levels using at least one push-pull parallel plate tunable capacitor. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The antenna defined in claim 1 wherein the at least one push-pull parallel plate tunable capacitor comprises: a first substrate with a first electrode attached thereto; a second substrate with a second electrode attached thereto; a membrane between the first and second electrodes, the membrane being movable between the first and second electrodes in order to change the capacitance. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The antenna defined in claim 2 wherein the membrane is pushed toward the first electrode or pulled toward the second electrode in order to change the capacitance based on voltages applied to the first and second electrodes. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The antenna defined in claim 3 wherein the membrane is suspended in between the first and second electrodes when inactive, is pushed toward the first electrode thereby increasing a gap between the membrane and the second electrode and inserting a first capacitance in a resonator RF path passing the second electrode, and is pulled toward the second electrode thereby inserting a second capacitance in the resonator RF path that is greater than the first capacitance and consequently decreasing the resonance frequency. ### Claim 5 (depends on 3) The antenna defined in claim 3 wherein the first electrode is at a first voltage and the second electrode is at a second voltage and the membrane toggles between the first and second voltages. ### Claim 6 (depends on 2) The antenna defined in claim 2 wherein the first substrate comprises a patch of a patch/iris pair, the second substrate comprises an iris of a patch/iris pair. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The antenna defined in claim 6 wherein capacitance between the iris and the membrane changes as the membrane is pulled up and down due to a change in voltage of the membrane. ### Claim 8 (depends on 6) The antenna defined in claim 6 wherein the patch is co-located over and separated from the iris, forming the patch/iris pair that is turned off or on; and further wherein the patch/iris pair is one of a plurality of patch/iris pairs in the aperture, and further comprising a controller to apply a control pattern to control which patch/iris pairs of the plurality of patch/iris pairs are on and off, thereby causing generation of a beam. ### Claim 9 (depends on 6) The antenna defined in claim 6 wherein the first and second electrodes are attached to the first and second substrates respectively, and further wherein dielectric layers covers portions of the first and second electrodes to prevent the membrane from directly contacting the first and second electrodes when the membrane is pulled up and down due to a change in voltage of the membrane. ### Claim 10 (depends on 2) The antenna defined in claim 2 wherein the first and second substrates are separated by a gap. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The antenna defined in claim 10 wherein the gap is defined by one or more spacers between the first and second substrates. ### Claim 12 An antenna comprising: a physical antenna aperture having an array of antenna elements, wherein the array of antenna elements comprises a plurality of radio-frequency (RF) resonators, each RF resonator of the plurality of RF resonators comprising an RF radiating element with a microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) device, wherein each of the plurality of RF resonators comprises: a patch and slot that form a patch/slot pair; and a MEMS actuator to change position of the patch and the iris with respect to each other to change capacitance and/or inductance of said each resonator. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The antenna defined in claim 12 wherein the actuator is operable to move the patch to change the capacitance and/or inductance of said each resonator. ### Claim 14 (depends on 12) The antenna defined in claim 12 wherein patch/slot pairs of the plurality of RF resonators are controlled and operable together to form a beam for the frequency band for use in holographic beam steering. ### Claim 15 (depends on 12) The antenna defined in claim 12 wherein the patch comprises a plurality of conductive spaced fingers and the slot comprises a plurality of spaced conductive protrusions, and wherein the actuator is operable to adjust overlap between the plurality of conductive fingers and the plurality of conductive protrusions to adjust the capacitance. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The antenna defined in claim 15 wherein the plurality of conductive fingers and the plurality of conductive protrusions comprises metal or semi-conductive material. ### Claim 17 (depends on 15) The antenna defined in claim 15 wherein the plurality of conductive fingers are on opposite sides of the patch and the plurality of conductive protrusions are on opposite sides of the slot. ### Claim 18 (depends on 12) The antenna defined in claim 12 wherein the patch comprises a plurality of patch elements, and the actuator adjusts one or more patch elements of the plurality of patch elements to change gap sizes between adjacent patch elements to tune the capacitance. ### Claim 19 (depends on 18) The antenna defined in claim 18 wherein the plurality of patch elements comprises three patch elements with a first patch element being positioned between, and separated by gaps from, two edge patch elements, and wherein the actuator is operable to move one or both of the two edge patch elements with respect to the first patch element to change sizes of the gaps to change capacitance across the gaps when tuning. ### Claim 20 (depends on 12) The antenna defined in claim 12 wherein the actuator is operable to rotate the patch across the iris. ### Claim 21 (depends on 12) The antenna defined in claim 12 wherein the actuator is operable to laterally displace the patch with respect to the slot to tune the RF resonator. ### Claim 22 (depends on 21) The antenna defined in claim 21 wherein the actuator laterally displaces the patch from an edge of the slot towards a center of the slot to tune the RF resonator. ### Claim 23 (depends on 21) The antenna defined in claim 21 wherein the patch comprises a plurality of patch elements and one or more actuators laterally displace the patch elements from a side of the slot in a direction across the slot to tune the RF resonator. ### Claim 24 An antenna comprising: a physical antenna aperture having an array of antenna elements, wherein the array of antenna elements comprises a plurality of radio-frequency (RF) resonators, each RF resonator of the plurality of RF resonators comprising an RF radiating element with at least one push-pull parallel plate tunable capacitor comprising: a patch, of a patch/iris pair, with a first electrode attached thereto; a iris, of the patch/iris pair, with a second electrode attached thereto; a membrane between the first and second electrodes, the membrane being movable between the first and second electrodes in order to change the capacitance, wherein capacitance between the iris and the membrane changes as the membrane is pulled up and down due to a change in voltage of the membrane, and wherein a resonance frequency of each RF resonator in the plurality of RF resonators is tuned between known levels using at least one push-pull parallel plate tunable capacitor. ### Claim 25 An antenna comprising: a physical antenna aperture having an array of antenna elements, wherein the array of antenna elements comprises a plurality of radio-frequency (RF) resonators, each RF resonator of the plurality of RF resonators comprising an RF radiating element with a microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) device, wherein the plurality of RF resonators are controlled and operable together to form a beam for the frequency band for use in holographic beam steering, and further wherein a resonance frequency of each resonator in the plurality of RF resonators is tuned between known levels using at least one push-pull parallel plate tunable capacitor.