Thales

Thierry Dean

Afshin Ziaei

Hervé Legay

Etienne Girard

Ronan Moulinet

Raphaël Gillard

Jean-Philippe Polizzi

Michel Charrier

Béatrice Pinte

The field of the invention is that of microsystems of the electrostatically actuated microswitch type that are used in electronics to carry out switching functions, especially in the microwave field for mobile telephony and radars. The object of the invention is to improve the performance of the switch by reducing the response time of the device and by increasing the radiofrequency or microwave power supported, while still maintaining low switching voltages. This improved performance is obtained by using thick membranes and by placing a material of high relative permittivity between said membrane and the associated electrode. The switch is obtained by a novel production process, the membrane being produced on an independent substrate and then joined to the base substrate of the switch. Examples of processes for producing devices according to the invention with the materials that can be used, the possible geometries and the various production steps are given.

Electrostatically actuated low response time power commutation micro-switches

The invention relates to phase-shifting cells constituting the passive reflectarrays of antennas with a reconfigurable transmission direction, transmitting in the microwave range. More particularly, the invention describes, within the context of phase-shifting cells of the type having dipole strands angularly distributed in a star configuration, a novel type of switch consisting of a microelectromechanical device essentially comprising a suspended micromembrane which, under the action of an electrostatic force caused by a control voltage, deforms sufficiently to ensure electrical connection between the strands, making it possible to form a dipole in the desired orientation. In one particular embodiment, the micromembrane can be likened to one of the plates of a capacitor and its deformation corresponds to a substantial increase in the capacitance of this capacitor, thus providing the electrical connection. This switch technology has the advantages of greater fabrication simplicity and of enhanced performance compared with the known technologies. The invention provides the main geometrical and technological characteristics for obtaining optimized performance.

Phase-shifting cell for an antenna reflectarray

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Gif sur Yvette, France

Thierry Dean