Liquid-Metal-Based Reconfigurable Components for RF Front Ends

Abstract

This thesis focuses on the development of liquid-metal-based reconfigurable components for radio-frequency (RF) front ends. Recon gurable components allow the RF front end to dynamically change key radio parameters such as output power, signal carrier frequency, and bandwidth. These capabilities enable the radio transceiver to adapt to environmental and communication channel changes on the fly, according to programmed protocols and priorities. As a low-loss metallic conductor, the liquid metal Galinstan is well suited for RF applications, and its fluidic nature makes it a natural candidate for recon gurable architectures. Three liquid-metal based components are described: a frequency-tunable substrate integrated waveguide cavity filter, an electromagnetic bandgap phase shifter, and a frequency-reconfigurable slot antenna. These components are designed, fabricated, and tested and the advantages and disadvantages of using liquid metal are discussed.