Nonlinear Modelling of Steerable Antenna Array by Ferroelectric Capacitors Based on Nanoscale Layers of HfZrO

The design of a novel integrated on silicon, 2-D reconfigurable 2x2 antenna array operating at 2.45 GHz, adopting Interdigitated Capacitors (IDCs) based on nanoscale ferroelectric hafnium zirconium oxide (HfZrO), is presented. First, a general-purpose circuit-equivalent nonlinear model of the IDCs is derived from measurements and its power-handling capabilities are predicted by Harmonic Balance (HB) simulations. The model is then used in the array CPW-feeding network for 2-D steering of the array. Nonlinear/Electromagnetic co-simulation is carried out to predict the far-field steering performance under large-signal RF excitations, in a 50-dB range, starting from -30dBm. A maximum steering range, over the azimuthal and elevation directions of ±18° in the lower power range is obtained, which reduces to ±8° at 20 dBm and over.