Tunable phase shifter comprising a tunable dielectric layer between first and second electrodes of specified sheet resistance and method for manufacturing

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12548870-B2
Application number	US-202218281111-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 18, 2022
Priority date	Mar 18, 2022
Publication date	Feb 10, 2026
Grant date	Feb 10, 2026

Abstract

A tunable phase shifter and a method for manufacturing the same, and a tunable phase shifting device. The phase shifter includes a first substrate, a second substrate, and a tunable dielectric layer between the first substrate and the second substrate; the first substrate includes a first base substrate and a first electrode on the first base substrate; the second substrate includes a second base substrate and a second electrode on the second base substrate; an orthographic projection of the first electrode on the first base substrate is at least partially overlapped with an orthographic projection of the second electrode on the first base substrate, and sheet resistances of materials of the first electrode and the second electrode are both less than or equal to 0.024Ω/□.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1 . A tunable phase shifter, comprising:
a first substrate, comprising a first base substrate and at least one first electrode on the first base substrate; a second substrate, comprising a second base substrate and at least one second electrode on the second base substrate; and a tunable dielectric layer, between the first substrate and the second substrate, wherein an orthographic projection of the at least one first electrode on the first base substrate is at least partially overlapped with an orthographic projection of the at least one second electrode on the first base substrate, and sheet resistances of materials of the at least one first electrode and the at least one second electrode are both less than or equal to 0.024Ω/□.

2 . The tunable phase shifter according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a plurality of spacers, located between the first substrate and the second substrate to maintain an interval between the first substrate and the second substrate, wherein the at least one second electrode comprises a plurality of second electrodes, two adjacent second electrodes of the plurality of second electrodes are provided with at least one of the plurality of spacers.

3 . The tunable phase shifter according to claim 2 , wherein the second substrate comprises an electrode region and a peripheral region on a periphery of the electrode region, the at least one second electrode is located in the electrode region, and the peripheral region is provided with multiple spacers of the plurality of spacers arranged in an array.

4 . The tunable phase shifter according to claim 3 , wherein, in the electrode region, an orthographic projection of a spacer of the plurality of spacers on a reference line perpendicular to the second base substrate is overlapped with an orthographic projection of the at least one second electrode on the reference line.

5 . The tunable phase shifter according to claim 2 , wherein a maximum dimension in a direction parallel to the first base substrate of an orthographic projection of a spacer of the plurality of spacers on the first base substrate is D 1 , a distance between two adjacent ones of the plurality of spacers is D 2 , and a ratio of D 2 to D 1 ranges from 6 to 12.

6 . The tunable phase shifter according to claim 2 , wherein a ratio of a height of a spacer of the plurality of spacers in a direction perpendicular to the second base substrate to a distance between the first substrate and the second substrate ranges from 1 to 2.30.

7 . The tunable phase shifter according to claim 2 , wherein a ratio of a thickness of the at least one second electrode in a direction perpendicular to the second base substrate to a height of a spacer of the plurality of spacers in a direction perpendicular to the second base substrate ranges from 0.125 to 0.28.

8 . A tunable phase shifting device, comprising:
the tunable phase shifter according to claim 1 ; and a plurality of radiating elements, disposed on a side of the first substrate away from the second substrate, or on a side of the second substrate away from the first substrate.

9 . The tunable phase shifter according to claim 1 , wherein a thickness of the at least one first electrode in a direction perpendicular to the first base substrate ranges from 1.5 microns to 5 microns, and a thickness of the at least one second electrode in a direction perpendicular to the second base substrate ranges from 1.5 microns to 5 microns.

10 . The tunable phase shifter according to claim 1 , wherein a shape of a first cross section, cut by a plane perpendicular to the first base substrate, of the at least one first electrode comprises a trapezoid or a rectangle, and an angle range of a bottom angle of the first cross section away from the tunable dielectric layer is 70 degrees to 90 degrees; and/or a shape of a second cross section, cut by a plane perpendicular to the second base substrate, of the at least one second electrode comprises a trapezoid or a rectangle, and an angle range of a bottom angle of the second cross section away from the tunable dielectric layer is 70 degrees to 90 degrees.

11 . The tunable phase shifter according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one first electrode comprises a plurality of first electrodes spaced apart from each other and a first connection electrode connected to the plurality of first electrodes,
the at least one second electrode comprises a plurality of second electrodes spaced apart from each other and a second connection electrode connected to the plurality of second electrodes, the plurality of the first electrodes and the plurality of the second electrodes are disposed in one-to-one correspondence, and an orthographic projection of the respective first electrode on the first base substrate is at least partially overlapped with an orthographic projection of a corresponding second electrode on the first base substrate.

12 . The tunable phase shifter according to claim 11 , wherein the first substrate further comprises a first planarization filling structure located between adjacent ones of the plurality of first electrodes, and a thickness of the first planarization filling structure in a direction perpendicular to the first base substrate is approximately equal to a thickness of the respective first electrode in a direction perpendicular to the first base substrate; and/or the second substrate further comprises a second planarization filling structure located between adjacent ones of the plurality of second electrodes, and a thickness of the second planarization filling structure in a direction perpendicular to the second base substrate is approximately equal to a thickness of the corresponding second electrode in a direction perpendicular to the second base substrate.

13 . The tunable phase shifter according to claim 12 , wherein materials of the first planarization filling structure and the second planarization filling structure comprise one or more selected from a group consisting of an optical adhesive, a photoresist and a photocurable adhesive.

14 . The tunable phase shifter according to claim 11 , wherein an overlapping distance in an arrangement direction of the plurality of first electrodes of an orthographic projection of the respective first electrode on the first base substrate and an orthographic projection of the corresponding second electrode on the first base substrate is greater than 90% of a dimension of the respective first electrode or the second electrode in the arrangement direction of the plurality of first electrodes.

15 . A method for manufacturing a tunable phase shifter, comprising:
forming a first substrate, wherein the first substrate comprises a first base substrate and a first electrode on the first base substrate; forming a second substrate, wherein the second substrate comprises a second base substrate and a second electrode on the second base substrate; and cell-assembling the first substrate and the second substrate, and filling a liquid crystal between the first substrate and the second substrate, so as to form a tunable dielectric layer between the first substrate and the second substrate, wherein an orthographic projection of the first electrode on the first base substrate is at least partially overlapped with an orthographic projection of the second electrode on the first base substrate, and sheet resistances of materials of the first electrode and the second electrode are both less than or equal to 0.024Ω/□.

16 . The method for manufacturing the tunable phase shifter according to claim 15 , wherein the for

Assignees

• Boe Technology Group Co Ltd

Inventors

• Li Liuqing
• Cui Zhao
• Qu Feng
• Yao Qi
• Zhang Feng
• Liu Wenqu
• Dong Liwen
• Lv Zhijun
• Hou Dongfei
• Meng Detian
• Wang Libo

Classifications

• H01Q3/36

  with variable phase-shifters · CPC title

• H01P1/18 Primary

  Phase-shifters (H01P1/165 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H01P1/184

  Strip line phase-shifters (H01P1/181, H01P1/185, H01P1/19 take precedence) · CPC title

• H01Q3/38

  the phase-shifters being digital · CPC title

• H01P1/181 Primary

  using ferroelectric devices · CPC title