Micromachined S-band patch antenna with reduced dielectric constant

A generic dielectric constant reduction method for silicon substrates is presented in detail along with a process description to produce variable dielectric layers for planar antennas. Virtually any dielectric constant below the value for solid silicon 11.9 can be produced down to the limit of structural durability. A first-order volumetric average yields a dielectric constant of 3.8 for the following bonded micromachined silicon substrates; small honeycomb cells with wall thickness of 16 μm and inner wall length of 87 μm are etched using deep reactive ion etch (DRIE) to 475 μm depth in each of two 525 μm 4 in. high ohmic wafers. These two wafers are bonded together with the etched side of both wafers facing each other. A manufactured coaxial-fed disk-patch S-band antenna illustrates the method to reduce the dielectric constant for a circular zone with a diameter of 50 mm. The antenna is designed for a center frequency of 2.5 GHz based on a lossless substrate with a dielectric constant of 3.8. Adjusting the simulation model to fit the measured values of the antenna indicates a dielectric constant of 2.2, a dielectric loss tangent of 0.002, a bulk conductivity loss of 0.006 S/m, and a resonance frequency of 3.2 GHz. A low frequency analysis in the interval 200–500 MHz with a lumped element model and a low frequency formula for the capacitance between the patch and ground plane indicates a dielectric constant in the order of 2.7–2.8. Based on measurements in an SEM, a corrected average dielectric constant is found to be 2.9. This correction is due to thinner walls than expected in the manufactured honeycomb structure. Antenna lobe characteristics have been measured with a half-power beamwidth of ∼76° in both the E-plane and H-plane at 3.2 GHz.