Composite right/left handed transmission line phase shifter using ferroelectric varactors

A composite right/left handed (CRLH) transmission line (TL) phase shifter, using ferroelectric (Ba0.25Sr0.75TiO3) varactors as tunable element, is presented for the first time. It is theoretically and experimentally demonstrated how the unique features of CRLH TLs, enables a differential phase shift with flat frequency dependence around the center frequency. The experimental prototype is a coplanar design integrated on a high resistive Si substrate. It includes four CRLH T-unit cells and has a physical length of 3850 mu m. The ferroelectric varactors are realized in parallel plate version. Under 15-V dc bias applied over each varactor, the differential phase shift is flat around 17 GHz and has an absolute value of 50 degrees.