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This article presents a novel subterahertz (sub-THz) crossover waveguide switch concept operating in the 220–260-GHz frequency band. The crossover switching circuit is implemented by two hybrid couplers and two single-pole-single-throw (SPST) switching mechanisms, utilizing microelectromechanically reconfigurable switching surfaces. The silicon-micromachined crossover switch prototype is very compact, with a total footprint of 5.6 × 5 × 1.2 mm, including four standard WR-3.4 waveguide ports and the waveguide routing to these ports. The measured insertion loss (IL) is 0.9–1.4 dB in the crossover state and 0.8–1.3 dB in the straight state from 220 to 260 GHz, and the isolation (ISO) is better than 29.3 and 29 dB, respectively, for these states. The measured return loss (RL) is better than 14 dB in the crossover state and better than 13.6 dB in the straight state. Besides, the measured input-to-input ISO is better than 13.7 and 34 dB in the crossover and straight states, respectively. The measurement results are in excellent agreement with the simulation data. Moreover, the signal paths are fully symmetric for all input-to-output signal paths, making the crossover switching circuit suitable for redundancy applications., QC 20240325

This article presents a highly integrated novel silicon micromachined single-pole-single-throw waveguide switch based on two microelectromechanically reconfigurable switching surfaces (MEMS-RSs), which allows optimizing the switching performance by tuning the interference between the two such MEMS-RSs utilizing integrated electrostatic comb-drive actuators. The switch prototype is implemented with axially aligned standard WR-3.4 waveguide ports with a total footprint of 3 mm×3.5 mm×1.2 mm. The measured blocking ( off ) state insertion loss (isolation) and return loss, measured between two standard WR-3.4 waveguide flanges, are 28.5–32.5 dB and better than 0.7 dB, and the propagating ( on ) state insertion and return losses are 0.7–1.2 dB and better than 17 dB in the 220–290 GHz frequency band, respectively. The measured results were in excellent agreement with the simulation data, implying 27.5% fractional bandwidth, which is very close to a full waveguide band performance. For further investigations, two variants of the switching circuit with only a single MEMS-RS and without any MEMS-RSs have also been fabricated. The single MEMS-RS switch achieved the off -state isolation, on -state insertion loss, and return loss of only 11.5–12.5 dB, 0.8–1.3 dB, and better than 12 dB from 220 to 274 GHz, respectively, which clearly indicates the drastic performance improvement of the interference-based double MEMS-RS switch design. Moreover, measurement of the waveguide-only reference structure showed that the waveguide section alone attributed to 0.2–0.5 dB of the measured on -state insertion loss of the double MEMS-RS switch, and the rest is due to the introduction of the MEMS-RSs inside the waveguides., QC 20240315

In this article, we report for the first time on a low-loss compact platform that enables the integration of H-and E-plane rectangular waveguide subsystems enabled by 90 ∘ polarization rotation of rectangular waveguide sections on a silicon-micromachined chip. The proposed platform offers unprecedented design flexibility for a 2.5D fabrication technology such as silicon micromachining, since orthogonal waveguide device sections with full design freedom in H-plane geometries can be cofabricated with sections with full design freedom in E-plane geometries, enabled by novel, integrated waveguide twists optimized for 2.5D fabrication. The platform is developed for use in broadband millimeter-and submillimeter-wave waveguide circuits and prototypes are implemented in the 220–325-GHz band. A prototype chip demonstrating the platform, implemented by bonding three stacked silicon chips, is fabricated. The measured results of the twist prototype exhibit a very low insertion loss of less than 0.2 dB and a return loss of 20 dB or better in most of the 220–325-GHz band. An integrated eighth-degree lowpass waveguide filter with axial ports having a cut-off frequency of 280 GHz is codesigned with the twist transition and fabricated on the platform to demonstrate its application. The filter shows 0.4-dB measured insertion loss and has a measured return loss in the passband of better than 14 dB., QC 20230503