CN114335932A

CN114335932A - Phase shifter and antenna

Info

Publication number: CN114335932A
Application number: CN202111641136.7A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 张莉平; 王景; 李津; 吴朝华; 席克瑞; 贾振宇
Original assignee: Tianma Microelectronics Co Ltd
Current assignee: Tianma Microelectronics Co Ltd
Priority date: 2021-12-29
Filing date: 2021-12-29
Publication date: 2022-04-12

Abstract

The invention discloses a phase shifter and an antenna. The phase shifter comprises a first substrate and a second substrate which are oppositely arranged; at least one phase shifting unit, the phase shifting unit includes microstrip line, liquid crystal layer and grounding metal layer; the phase shifter also comprises a heating electrode, wherein the heating electrode is positioned on one side of the second substrate close to the grounding metal layer; the phase shifter further includes a heating electrode binding terminal and a driving electrode binding terminal. According to the technical scheme in the embodiment of the invention, the performance of the phase shifter and the antenna in a low-temperature environment is improved, the wiring difficulty of the heating electrode is reduced, the mutual coupling effect of partial radio-frequency signals and the heating electrode is isolated, the working reliability of the phase shifter is ensured, and the uniform heating of the liquid crystal layer is realized by virtue of the almost whole layer of the grounding metal layer. In addition, a gap exists between the heating electrode binding terminal and the driving electrode binding terminal in the vertical projection of the same plane, so that the heating electrode, the driving electrode and an external driving circuit are more convenient to connect.

Description

Phase shifter and antenna

Technical Field

The embodiment of the invention relates to the technical field of communication, in particular to a phase shifter and an antenna.

Background

The liquid crystal antenna is based on the characteristic of liquid crystal molecule anisotropy, the arrangement of liquid crystal molecules is controlled by using the driving voltage, so that the dielectric constant of each phase shifting unit is changed, the phase of a radio-frequency signal in each phase shifting unit is controlled, the radiation beam direction of the antenna is finally controlled, and the liquid crystal antenna can be widely applied to scenes such as a low-orbit satellite receiving antenna, a vehicle-mounted antenna, a base station antenna and the like.

Because the liquid crystal antenna can work in external environment, the state of liquid crystal in the liquid crystal antenna can be influenced by the change of external environment temperature, and when the external temperature is too low, the response rate of the liquid crystal is reduced, and then the performance of the liquid crystal antenna is influenced.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of the above problems, the present invention provides a phase shifter and an antenna to improve the performance of the phase shifter and the antenna in a low temperature environment.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a phase shifter, including:

the first substrate and the second substrate are oppositely arranged;

at least one phase shifting unit, the phase shifting unit comprises a microstrip line, a liquid crystal layer and a grounding metal layer;

the microstrip line is positioned on one side of the first substrate close to the second substrate, the grounding metal layer is positioned on one side of the second substrate close to the first substrate, and the liquid crystal layer is positioned between the first substrate and the second substrate;

the phase shifter also comprises a heating electrode, and the heating electrode is positioned on one side of the second substrate close to the grounding metal layer;

the phase shifter also comprises a heating electrode binding terminal and a driving electrode binding terminal, wherein the heating electrode binding terminal is electrically connected with the heating electrode, and the driving electrode binding terminal is electrically connected with the microstrip line;

the heating electrode binding terminal and the driving electrode binding terminal are arranged on the same layer or different layers, and a gap exists between the vertical projection of the heating electrode binding terminal on the plane of the first substrate and the vertical projection of the driving electrode binding terminal on the plane of the first substrate.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present invention further provides an antenna, including the phase shifter according to the first aspect.

According to the phase shifter and the antenna provided by the embodiment of the invention, the heating electrode is arranged in the phase shifter, and the liquid crystal layer of the phase shifter is heated through the heating electrode, so that liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer work in a normal temperature range, and the phase shifter can still maintain excellent working performance in a low-temperature environment. In addition, the heating electrode is arranged on one side, close to the grounding metal layer, of the second substrate, wiring difficulty can be reduced, mutual coupling of a part of radio-frequency signals and the heating electrode can be isolated, working reliability of the phase shifter is guaranteed, uniform heating of the liquid crystal layer can be achieved by means of the almost whole grounding metal layer, and heating effect is further improved. Meanwhile, the heating electrode binding terminal and the driving electrode binding terminal are arranged, the phase shifter can be firmly connected with the flexible circuit board, so that the flexible circuit board provides voltage required by the working of the phase shifter, the vertical projections of the heating electrode binding terminal and the driving electrode binding terminal are not overlapped, enough binding space is provided for the flexible circuit board, the binding difficulty with the flexible circuit board is reduced, and the connection of the heating electrode and the microstrip line with the flexible circuit board can be flexibly realized.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a phase shifter according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged schematic view of FIG. 1 at A;

FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along line B-B' of FIG. 2;

fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of a connection structure between a phase shifter and a flexible circuit board according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 5 is a schematic view illustrating a connection structure between a phase shifter and a flexible circuit board according to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of another phase shifter according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a phase shifter according to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged schematic view of FIG. 7 at C;

FIG. 9 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along line D-D' of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is an enlarged schematic view of FIG. 7 at E;

FIG. 11 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along line F-F' of FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of a phase shifter according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a schematic view of a partial cross-sectional view taken along line G-G' of FIG. 12;

FIG. 14 is a schematic view of the partial cross-sectional configuration of FIG. 12 taken along the direction H-H';

fig. 15 is a schematic partial cross-sectional view of a phase shifter according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram of a phase shifter according to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 17 is a schematic view of the partial cross-sectional configuration of FIG. 16 taken along line I-I';

FIG. 18 is a schematic view of the partial cross-sectional configuration of FIG. 16 taken along the direction J-J';

FIG. 19 is a schematic diagram illustrating a partial cross-sectional structure of another phase shifter according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 20 is a schematic diagram of a phase shifter according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 21 is a schematic diagram of a phase shifter according to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 22 is an enlarged view of FIG. 21 at K;

FIG. 23 is a schematic structural diagram of another phase shifter according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 24 is a schematic structural diagram of an antenna according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 25 is a schematic partial cross-sectional view of an antenna according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 26 is a schematic partial cross-sectional view of another antenna according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 27 is a schematic partial cross-sectional view of another antenna according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Description of reference numerals:

a first substrate-10; a first binding step-101; a second substrate-11; second binding step-111; a phase shift unit-12; a microstrip line-13; a liquid crystal layer-14; liquid crystal molecule-141; a ground metal layer-15; a first hollowed-out portion-151; a second hollowed-out portion-152; a heating electrode-16; heating electrode subsection-161; heating connection section-162; a heating electrode binding terminal-17; a first heater electrode binding terminal-171; a second heater electrode binding terminal-172; a drive electrode binding terminal-18; a first drive electrode binding terminal-181; a second drive electrode binding terminal-182; a drive voltage transmission line-19; a flexible circuit board-20; electrically conductive connection structure-21; a first conductive connection structure-211; a second electrically conductive connection structure-212; a rubber frame-213; -214, a conductive structure; a first insulating layer-22; a radiation electrode-23; a feed network-24; a radio frequency signal interface-25; a pad-26; a third substrate-27; glue layer-28; a fourth substrate-29.

Detailed Description

The present invention will be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and examples. It is to be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely illustrative of the invention and are not limiting of the invention. It should be further noted that, for the convenience of description, only some of the structures related to the present invention are shown in the drawings, not all of the structures.

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a phase shifter according to an embodiment of the present invention, fig. 2 is an enlarged structural diagram of fig. 1 at a, fig. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of a cross section of fig. 2 along a direction B-B', and referring to fig. 1-3, the phase shifter according to an embodiment of the present invention includes:

the liquid crystal display panel comprises a first substrate 10, a second substrate 11 and at least one phase shifting unit 12, wherein the first substrate and the second substrate are arranged oppositely, and the phase shifting unit 12 comprises a microstrip line 13, a liquid crystal layer 14 and a grounding metal layer 15. The microstrip line 13 is located on one side of the first substrate 10 close to the second substrate 11, the grounding metal layer 15 is located on one side of the second substrate 11 close to the first substrate 10, and the liquid crystal layer 14 is located between the first substrate 10 and the second substrate 11. The phase shifter further includes a heater electrode 16, and the heater electrode 16 is located on a side of the second substrate 11 close to the ground metal layer 15. The phase shifter further includes a heating electrode binding terminal 17 and a driving electrode binding terminal 18, the heating electrode binding terminal 17 is electrically connected to the heating electrode 16, and the driving electrode binding terminal 18 is electrically connected to the microstrip line 13. The heating electrode binding terminal 17 and the driving electrode binding terminal 18 are disposed in the same layer or in different layers, and a gap exists between a vertical projection of the heating electrode binding terminal 17 on the plane of the first substrate 10 and a vertical projection of the driving electrode binding terminal 18 on the plane of the first substrate 10.

The phase shifter refers to a device or apparatus capable of adjusting the phase of a wave. With continuing reference to fig. 1 and 2, a phase shifter in an embodiment of the present invention specifically includes: the first substrate 10 and the second substrate 11 are oppositely disposed, wherein the first substrate 10 and the second substrate 11 may be glass substrates, but are not limited thereto.

In addition, the phase shifter also comprises at least one phase shifting unit 12, and the phase shifting unit 12 is used for realizing the phase shifting function of the radio frequency signal. Specifically, as shown in fig. 1 and fig. 2, the phase shift unit 12 includes a microstrip line 13, a liquid crystal layer 14, and a ground metal layer 15, where the microstrip line 13 is located on the first substrate 10 and is disposed on a side of the first substrate 10 close to the second substrate 11; the grounding metal layer 15 is positioned on the second substrate 11 and is arranged on one side of the second substrate 11 close to the first substrate 10; a liquid crystal layer 14 is disposed between the first substrate 10 and the second substrate 11. After applying voltage signals to the microstrip line 13 and the ground metal layer 15, an electric field is formed between the microstrip line 13 and the ground metal layer 15, and the electric field can drive the liquid crystal molecules 141 in the liquid crystal layer 14 to deflect, thereby changing the dielectric constant of the liquid crystal layer 14. In addition, the microstrip line 13 is also used for transmitting radio frequency signals, the radio frequency signals are transmitted in the liquid crystal layer 14 between the microstrip line 13 and the ground metal layer 15, and due to the change of the dielectric constant of the liquid crystal layer 14, the radio frequency signals transmitted on the microstrip line 13 are subjected to phase shifting, so that the phase of the radio frequency signals is changed, and the phase shifting function of the radio frequency signals is realized.

It should be noted that, the phase shifter may include a phase shifting unit 12, where one phase shifting unit 12 includes one microstrip line 13, and the phase shifting unit 12 is configured to implement a phase shifting function of the radio frequency signal transmitted on the microstrip line 13. Optionally, the phase shifter may also include a plurality of phase shifting units 12 distributed in an array to shift the phase of the radio frequency signal transmitted on the plurality of microstrip lines 13 at the same time, fig. 1 only takes the phase shifter including 16 phase shifting units 12 as an example, in other embodiments, a person skilled in the art may set the number and layout of the phase shifting units 12 according to actual requirements, which is not limited in the embodiment of the present invention.

With continued reference to fig. 1-3, the phase shifter in this embodiment further includes a heating electrode 16, and the heating electrode 16 is located between the second substrate 11 and the ground metal layer 15, i.e., on the side of the second substrate 11 close to the ground metal layer 15. When the phase shifter is in a low-temperature environment, the liquid crystal layer 14 can be heated through the heating electrode 16, so that the temperature of the liquid crystal molecules 141 in the liquid crystal layer 14 is increased, the liquid crystal molecules 141 in the liquid crystal layer 14 are guaranteed to work in a normal temperature range, the influence of the external low-temperature environment on the working performance of the phase shifter is avoided, and the problems that the phase shifter is slow in response in the low-temperature environment and even cannot work normally are solved.

It should be noted that, for a specific wiring manner of the heating electrode 16, the embodiment of the present invention is not limited, any wiring manner of the heating electrode 16 that can heat the liquid crystal layer 14 is within the protection scope of the technical solution of the embodiment of the present invention, and fig. 1 only shows an optional wiring manner of the heating electrode 16 by way of example.

In addition, it is worth mentioning that, since the microstrip line 13 is used for transmitting the radio frequency signal, in order to avoid the influence on the transmission of the radio frequency signal, a metal structure other than the grounding metal layer 15 cannot be disposed within a certain range around the microstrip line 13. In the embodiment of the present invention, the heating electrode 16 is disposed between the second substrate 11 and the ground metal layer 15, and this arrangement has the following advantages: on one hand, the heating electrode 16 and the microstrip line 13 are arranged in different layers, so that the arrangement of the heating electrode 16 is not influenced by the arrangement of the microstrip line 13 and the driving voltage transmission line 19 for providing driving voltage for the microstrip line 13, and the wiring difficulty is reduced; on the other hand, due to the shielding effect of the grounding metal layer 15, the mutual coupling effect of a part of radio frequency signals and the heating electrode 16 can be isolated, and the working reliability of the phase shifter is ensured; on the other hand, since the ground metal layer 15 has a good heat conductivity, the heat can be conducted through the almost entire ground metal layer 15, so that the liquid crystal layer 14 can be uniformly heated, and the heating effect can be further improved.

With continued reference to fig. 1, the phase shifter in the present embodiment further includes a heating electrode bonding terminal 17 and a driving electrode bonding terminal 18. The heating electrode binding terminal 17 is electrically connected to the heating electrode 16, and is configured to bind the heating electrode 16 to a Flexible Printed Circuit (FPC), and the Flexible Printed Circuit can be electrically connected to a heating driving Circuit, so that the heating driving Circuit provides a heating voltage to the heating electrode 16 through the Flexible Printed Circuit, and a heating function of the heating electrode 16 is implemented.

Continuing to refer to fig. 1, the driving electrode binding terminal 18 is electrically connected to the microstrip line 13, and the driving electrode binding terminal 18 is configured to bind the microstrip line 13 to the flexible circuit board, so that the microstrip line 13 receives a driving voltage through the flexible circuit board to drive liquid crystal molecules 141 in the liquid crystal layer 14 to deflect, where the driving electrode binding terminal 18 may be correspondingly connected to the microstrip line 13 through a driving voltage transmission line 19, and the arrangement of the driving voltage transmission line 19 may be set according to actual requirements.

For example, fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of a connection structure between a phase shifter and a flexible circuit board according to an embodiment of the present invention, and fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of a connection structure between a phase shifter and a flexible circuit board according to another embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 4 and 5, the heating electrode binding terminal 17 and the driving electrode binding terminal 18 may be connected to the same flexible circuit board 20, or may be connected to two flexible circuit boards 20 respectively. For example, fig. 4 shows that the heating electrode binding terminal 17 and the driving electrode binding terminal 18 are connected to the same flexible circuit board 20, which not only helps to reduce the size of the whole antenna and achieve miniaturized antenna application, but also saves the manufacturing cost of the antenna. For another example, fig. 5 shows that the heating electrode binding terminals 17 and the driving electrode binding terminals 18 are respectively connected to the corresponding flexible circuit boards 20, so that the design difficulty of the flexible circuit boards 20 can be reduced.

With continued reference to fig. 1-5, there is a gap between the perpendicular projection of the heating electrode binding terminal 17 on the plane of the first substrate 10 and the perpendicular projection of the driving electrode binding terminal 18 on the plane of the first substrate 10, that is, the heating electrode binding terminal 17 and the driving electrode binding terminal 18 do not overlap in the thickness direction of the first substrate 10.

Specifically, as shown in fig. 1 to 5, if the heating electrode binding terminal 17 and the driving electrode binding terminal 18 are located at the same layer, the heating electrode binding terminal 17 and the driving electrode binding terminal 18 do not overlap, and a short circuit between the heating electrode binding terminal 17 and the driving electrode binding terminal 18 can be avoided. If the heater electrode binding terminal 17 and the driver electrode binding terminal 18 are located at different layers, the heater electrode binding terminal 17 and the driver electrode binding terminal 18 are not overlapped in the thickness direction of the first substrate 10, so that a sufficient binding space can be provided for the flexible circuit board 20, and the flexible circuit board 20 can be conveniently bound.

The arrangement of the binding terminal can firmly connect the phase shifter with the flexible circuit board 20, so that the flexible circuit board 20 provides the voltage required by the operation of the phase shifter; in addition, the vertical projections of the heating electrode binding terminal 17 and the driving electrode binding terminal 18 are not overlapped, and the connection of the heating electrode 16, the microstrip line 13 and the flexible circuit board 20 can be flexibly realized.

It should be noted that the specific number of the heating electrode binding terminals 17 and the driving electrode binding terminals 18 can be set according to the wiring condition of the heating electrode 16 and the microstrip line 13, in this embodiment, taking the case that the number of the driving electrode binding terminals 18 is equal to the number of the phase shift units 12 as an example, referring to fig. 1, for example, 16 driving electrode binding terminals 18 can be set, but is not limited thereto. The driving electrode binding terminal 18 is arranged corresponding to the phase shift unit 12, so that the driving voltage can be applied to the microstrip line 13 in each phase shift unit 12, thereby realizing independent control of each phase shift unit 12 and improving the working efficiency and reliability of the phase shifter.

In addition, the heating electrode binding terminal 17 and the driving electrode binding terminal 18 may be disposed on the same layer or different layers, and the specific disposition may be selected according to actual needs, which is not limited in the embodiment of the present invention, and fig. 1 only shows an exemplary disposition of the heating electrode binding terminal 17 and the driving electrode binding terminal 18.

According to the phase shifter provided by the embodiment of the invention, the heating electrode 16 is arranged in the phase shifter, and the liquid crystal layer 14 of the phase shifter is heated through the heating electrode 16, so that the liquid crystal molecules 141 in the liquid crystal layer 14 can be ensured to work in a normal temperature range, and the phase shifter can still maintain excellent working performance in a low-temperature environment. In addition, the heating electrode 16 is disposed on one side of the second substrate 11 close to the ground metal layer 15, which can reduce the wiring difficulty, isolate the mutual coupling between a part of the radio frequency signal and the heating electrode 16, ensure the working reliability of the phase shifter, and realize the uniform heating of the liquid crystal layer 14 by means of the almost entire ground metal layer 15, thereby further improving the heating effect. Meanwhile, the heating electrode binding terminal 17 and the driving electrode binding terminal 18 are arranged, the phase shifter can be firmly connected with the flexible circuit board 20, so that the flexible circuit board 20 provides voltage required by the operation of the phase shifter, the vertical projections of the heating electrode binding terminal 17 and the driving electrode binding terminal 18 are arranged not to be overlapped, an enough binding space is provided for the flexible circuit board 20, the binding difficulty with the flexible circuit board 20 is reduced, and the connection of the heating electrode 16 and the microstrip line 13 with the flexible circuit board 20 can be flexibly realized.

With continued reference to fig. 1, 4 and 5, optionally, the first substrate 10 includes a first binding step 101, at least a portion of the first binding step 101 is located outside a coverage area of the second substrate 11 in a perpendicular projection to a plane in which the first substrate 10 is located, and the driving electrode binding terminal 18 is located on the first binding step 101. The second substrate 11 includes a second binding step 111, at least a portion of the second binding step 111 is located outside a coverage area of the first substrate 10 in a perpendicular projection of a plane in which the second substrate 11 is located, and the heating electrode binding terminal 17 is located on the second binding step 111.

Illustratively, with continued reference to fig. 1, 4 and 5, the first binding step 101 is located on the first substrate 10, and at least a portion of the first binding step 101 is disposed outside a region covered by a vertical projection of the second substrate 11 on a plane of the first substrate 10, which can also be understood as a direction parallel to the first substrate 10, the first binding step 101 includes a portion protruding from the first substrate 10, and when the flexible circuit board 20 is bound to the driving electrode binding terminals 18 on the portion of the first binding step 101, the space limitation of the first substrate 10 may not be performed, so as to facilitate the binding between the driving electrode binding terminals 18 and the flexible circuit board 20.

With continued reference to fig. 1, 4 and 5, the second binding step 111 is located on the second substrate 11, and at least a portion of the second binding step 111 is disposed outside a region covered by the first substrate 10 in a vertical projection of the plane of the second substrate 11, which may also be understood as the second binding step 111 includes a portion protruding from the second substrate 11, and when the flexible circuit board 20 is bound with the heating electrode binding terminal 17 on the portion of the second binding step 111, the space limitation of the second substrate 11 may not be performed, so as to facilitate the binding between the heating electrode binding terminal 17 and the flexible circuit board 20.

The arrangement of the heating electrode bonding terminals 17 on the second bonding steps 111 and the arrangement of the driving electrode bonding terminals 18 on the first bonding steps 101 are not limited in the embodiments of the present invention, and can be set by those skilled in the art according to actual requirements, and fig. 1, 4 and 5 only exemplarily show an optional arrangement, and in addition, fig. 1, 4 and 5 show top views of the phase shifter, and the vertical projection positions of the first bonding steps 101 and the second bonding steps 111 can be seen from the top view direction.

It should be noted that, by arranging the first binding step 101 on the first substrate 10, the second binding step 111 on the second substrate 11, and respectively arranging the driving electrode binding terminal 18 and the heating electrode binding terminal 17 on the first binding step 101 and the second binding step 111, the driving electrode binding terminal 18 and the microstrip line 13 can be arranged on the same layer, and the heating electrode binding terminal 17 and the heating electrode 16 can be arranged on the same layer, which is beneficial to improving the connection reliability between the microstrip line 13 and the driving electrode binding terminal 18, and between the heating electrode 16 and the heating electrode binding terminal 17. Meanwhile, the first binding step 101 is arranged to comprise a part protruding out of the first substrate 10, and the second binding step 111 is arranged to comprise a part protruding out of the second substrate 11, so that when the flexible circuit board 20 is bound with the flexible circuit board 20, the flexible circuit board 20 is not limited by the space of the opposite substrates, a sufficient binding space is provided for the flexible circuit board 20, and the binding difficulty is reduced.

With continued reference to fig. 1, 4 and 5, optionally, the first and second

binding steps

101 and 111 are located on different sides of the phase shifter in a direction parallel to the plane of the first substrate 10.

Specifically, as shown in fig. 1, 4 and 5, the first binding step 101 and the second binding step 111 are disposed on different sides of the phase shifter in a direction parallel to the plane of the first substrate 10, and it can also be understood that a perpendicular projection of the second binding step 111 on the plane of the first substrate 10 is on different sides from the first binding step 101. The first binding step 101 and the second binding step 111 are disposed at different sides of the phase shifter, which may provide a larger binding space for the flexible circuit board 20, thereby facilitating the subsequent binding of the driving electrode binding terminal 18 and the flexible circuit board 20, and the binding of the heating electrode binding terminal 17 and the flexible circuit board 20.

It should be noted that, in fig. 1, fig. 4 and fig. 5, only the first binding step 101 and the second binding step 111 are disposed on the adjacent side of the phase shifter for example, but not limited thereto, and those skilled in the art can set this according to actual needs, for example, fig. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of another phase shifter provided in the embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 6, in other embodiments, the first binding step 101 and the second binding step 111 can also be disposed on the opposite side of the phase shifter, which is not limited by the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a further phase shifter according to an embodiment of the present invention, fig. 8 is an enlarged structural diagram of fig. 7 at C, and fig. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a cross-section of fig. 8 along a direction D-D'; fig. 10 is an enlarged structural view at E of fig. 7, and fig. 11 is a sectional structural view along F-F' of fig. 10, and referring to fig. 7-11, alternatively, the first binding step 101 and the second binding step 111 are located on the same side of the phase shifter along a direction parallel to the plane of the first substrate 10; the perpendicular projection of the second binding step 111 on the plane of the first substrate 10 is located outside the area where the first binding step 101 is located.

Specifically, referring to fig. 7-11, in a direction parallel to the plane of the first substrate 10, the first binding step 101 and the second binding step 111 are disposed on the same side of the phase shifter, and it can also be understood that a vertical projection of the second binding step 111 on the plane of the first substrate 10 is on the same side as the first binding step 101, which helps to reduce the area of the binding steps, thereby reducing the overall structural size of the phase shifter and facilitating the miniaturization of the phase shifter.

With continued reference to fig. 7 to 11, the vertical projection of the second binding step 111 on the plane of the first substrate 10 is located outside the area where the first binding step 101 is located, that is, the vertical projection of the second binding step 111 on the plane of the first substrate 10 is not overlapped with the first binding step 101, when binding with the flexible circuit board, the flexible circuit board is not limited by the space of the opposite substrate, so as to provide a sufficient binding space for the flexible circuit board, and reduce the binding difficulty.

It should be noted that fig. 7 to 11 only illustrate the positions of the first binding step 101 and the second binding step 111 in a feasible implementation manner, and in other embodiments, a person skilled in the art may design specific positions of the first binding step 101 and the second binding step 111 according to actual requirements, which is not limited by the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of still another phase shifter according to an embodiment of the present invention, fig. 13 is a schematic structural diagram of a partial cross section along G-G 'of fig. 12, fig. 14 is a schematic structural diagram of a partial cross section along H-H' of fig. 12, referring to fig. 12-14, alternatively, the first substrate 10 includes a first binding step 101, the first binding step 101 is located outside a coverage area of a vertical projection of the second substrate 11 on a plane where the first substrate 10 is located, and the heating electrode binding terminal 17 and the driving electrode binding terminal 18 are both located on the first binding step 101; the phase shifter further includes a conductive connection structure 21, the conductive connection structure 21 includes a first conductive connection structure 211, and the heating electrode 16 is electrically connected to the heating electrode binding terminal 17 through the first conductive connection structure 211.

Specifically, as shown in fig. 12 to 14, in the present embodiment, the first binding step 101 is disposed on the first substrate 10, and the first binding step 101 is located outside a coverage area of the second substrate 11 in a perpendicular projection to a plane where the first substrate 10 is located, and it can also be understood that, in a direction parallel to the plane where the first substrate 10 is located, the first binding step 101 includes a portion protruding from the first substrate 10. The heating electrode binding terminal 17 and the driving electrode binding terminal 18 are both arranged on the first binding step 101, so that the flexible circuit board is not limited by the space of the first substrate 10 when bound with the flexible circuit board, an enough binding area space is provided for the flexible circuit board, the difficulty of a binding process is reduced, and the manufacturing efficiency of the phase shifter is improved; on the other hand, it is convenient to bind the heating electrode binding terminal 17 and the driving electrode binding terminal 18 with the same flexible circuit board, thereby contributing to cost reduction.

With continued reference to fig. 12-14, the phase shifter in the present embodiment may further include a conductive connection structure 21, the conductive connection structure 21 including a first conductive connection structure 211, the first conductive connection structure 211 being located between the first bonding step 101 and the second substrate 11 to enable connection between the heater electrode 16 and the heater electrode bonding terminal 17.

Fig. 15 is a schematic partial cross-sectional view of a phase shifter according to an embodiment of the present invention, and as shown in fig. 15, optionally, a vertical projection of the heater electrode 16 on the first substrate 10 at least partially overlaps a vertical projection of the heater electrode bonding terminal 17 on the first substrate 10.

Specifically, as shown in fig. 15, by disposing the heating electrode 16 to at least partially overlap with the heating electrode binding terminal 17 along the thickness direction of the first substrate 10, the difficulty of arranging the first conductive connection structure 211 can be reduced, the length of the first conductive connection structure 211 can be reduced, and the reliability of connection between the heating electrode 16 and the heating electrode binding terminal 17 can be improved.

Fig. 16 is a schematic structural diagram of still another phase shifter according to an embodiment of the present invention, fig. 17 is a schematic structural diagram of a partial cross section along the direction I-I 'in fig. 16, fig. 18 is a schematic structural diagram of a partial cross section along the direction J-J' in fig. 16-18, and optionally, the second substrate 11 includes a second binding step 111, at least a portion of the second binding step 111 is located outside a coverage area of the first substrate 10 in a vertical projection of a plane of the second substrate 11, and the heating electrode binding terminal 17 and the driving electrode binding terminal 18 are both located on the second binding step 111; the phase shifter further includes a conductive connection structure 21, the conductive connection structure 21 includes a second conductive connection structure 212, and the microstrip line 13 is electrically connected to the driving electrode binding terminal 18 through the second conductive connection structure 212.

Specifically, as shown in fig. 16 to 18, in the present embodiment, the second binding step 111 is disposed on the second substrate 11, and the second binding step 111 is located outside a coverage area of the first substrate 10 in a perpendicular projection of a plane where the second substrate 11 is located, and it can also be understood that, in a direction parallel to the plane where the first substrate 10 is located, the second binding step 111 includes a portion protruding from the second substrate 11. The heating electrode binding terminal 17 and the driving electrode binding terminal 18 are both arranged on the second binding step 111, so that the flexible circuit board is not limited by the space of the second substrate 11 when bound with the flexible circuit board, an enough binding area space is provided for the flexible circuit board, the difficulty of a binding process is reduced, and the manufacturing efficiency of the phase shifter is improved; on the other hand, it is convenient to bind the heating electrode binding terminal 17 and the driving electrode binding terminal 18 with the same flexible circuit board, thereby contributing to cost reduction.

With continued reference to fig. 16-18, the phase shifter in this embodiment may further include a conductive connection structure 21, and the conductive connection structure 21 includes a second conductive connection structure 212. It is to be understood that the second bonding step 111 is located on the second substrate 11, and the microstrip line 13 is located on the first substrate 10, and in the present embodiment, the second conductive connection structure 212 is located between the second bonding step 111 and the first substrate 10 to connect the microstrip line 13 and the driving electrode bonding terminal 18 through the second conductive connection structure 212.

In addition, it should be noted that, in the phase shifter in the embodiment of the present invention, the electrical connection manner between the microstrip line 13 and the driving electrode binding terminal 18 is not limited, and fig. 16 to 18 exemplarily show that the driving electrode binding terminal 18 may be correspondingly connected to the microstrip line 13 through the driving voltage transmission line 19, and the arrangement of the driving voltage transmission line 19 may be set according to actual requirements.

It should be noted that, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the second binding step 111 can be used not only to set the heating electrode binding terminal 17 to supply the heating voltage to the heating electrode 16, but also to set a binding terminal connected to the ground metal layer 15 on the second binding step 111 to supply the ground potential to the ground metal layer 15.

In summary, a person skilled in the art can choose to set the first binding step 101 on the first substrate 10 or set the second binding step 111 on the second substrate 11 according to actual requirements, and set both the heating electrode binding terminal 17 and the driving electrode binding terminal 18 on the same binding step, so as to implement flexible setting of the phase shifter structure and improve the adaptability of the phase shifter.

With continued reference to fig. 12-18, optionally, the conductive connection structure 21 includes silver paste.

Specifically, the conductive connection structure 21 can be manufactured in a manner of silk-screen silver paste, and the process is mature and easy to implement.

The silver paste is a viscous paste of a mechanical mixture consisting of fine particles of high-purity (e.g., 99.9%) metallic silver, a binder, a solvent, and an auxiliary agent. The silver paste has the characteristics of low curing temperature, extremely high bonding strength, stable electrical property and the like, so that the conductive connection structure 21 can be effectively and reliably electrically connected.

And, because the resistivity of silver thick liquid is less, set up the electrically conductive connection structure 21 of less scope and can guarantee lower pressure drop to reduce electrically conductive connection structure 21's occupation space, reduce electrically conductive connection structure 21 to the influence in whole unit installation space.

Fig. 19 is a schematic partial cross-sectional view of another phase shifter according to an embodiment of the present invention, and optionally, referring to fig. 19, the conductive connection structure 21 includes a rubber frame 213 and a conductive structure 214 located in the rubber frame 213.

As shown in fig. 9, 11, 13-15, and 17-19, the phase shifter further includes a rubber frame 213, where the rubber frame 213 is disposed around the liquid crystal layer 14 and is configured to support the first substrate 10 and the second substrate 11, so as to provide a receiving space for the liquid crystal layer 14 and seal the liquid crystal layer 14.

With reference to fig. 19, in the present embodiment, the conductive structure 214 is disposed in the rubber frame 213, so that the rubber frame 213 has a conductive property, and the conductive connection structure 21 is formed, so that the rubber frame 213 can be directly utilized for electrical connection without disposing an additional conductive structure, and therefore, the occupied space of the conductive connection structure 21 can be further reduced, and the influence of the conductive connection structure 21 on the whole assembly space is reduced.

For example, the frame 213 may be made of a resin material, but is not limited thereto, and the conductive structure 214 may be doped before the frame is cured, and then the frame may be coated on the first substrate 10 or the second substrate 11, the first substrate 10 and the second substrate 11 may be combined, and the frame 213 may be cured, thereby forming the conductive connection structure 21.

Alternatively, the conductive structures 214 may comprise gold balls.

Wherein, because the electric conductivity of gold is good, set up electrically conductive structure 214 into the gold ball, can guarantee electrically conductive connection structure 21's electric conductive property, simultaneously, the stability of gold ball is better, and the antioxidant power is stronger, helps promoting the life who moves the looks ware.

It should be noted that the specific material of the conductive structure 214 is not limited to gold balls, and those skilled in the art can select any other conductive material according to actual needs, and the embodiments of the present invention are not limited thereto.

Meanwhile, the specific arrangement mode and material selection of the conductive connection structure 21 are not limited to the above embodiments, and those skilled in the art can set the conductive connection structure according to actual requirements, and the embodiments of the present invention are not limited.

Alternatively, with continued reference to fig. 12 and 16, the driving electrode bonding terminals 18 and the heating electrode bonding terminals 17 are alternatively located on the same side of the phase shifter in a direction parallel to the plane of the first substrate 10.

Specifically, as shown in fig. 12 and 16, by disposing the heating electrode bonding terminal 17 and the driving electrode bonding terminal 18 on the same side of the phase shifter, it is helpful to reduce the disposing area of the bonding step, thereby reducing the overall structural size of the phase shifter and facilitating the miniaturization application of the phase shifter; meanwhile, it is also convenient to bind the heating electrode binding terminal 17 and the driving electrode binding terminal 18 with the same flexible circuit board, thereby contributing to cost reduction.

Fig. 20 is a schematic structural diagram of another phase shifter according to an embodiment of the present invention. Alternatively, referring to fig. 7, 12, 16 and 20, alternatively, the heating electrode binding terminals 17 are arranged in the first direction X, and the driving electrode binding terminals 18 are arranged in the first direction X. The heating electrode binding terminal 17 includes a first heating electrode binding terminal 171 and a second heating electrode binding terminal 172, and the first heating electrode binding terminal 171 and the second heating electrode binding terminal 172 are respectively located at both sides of the driving electrode binding terminal 18 along the first direction X; alternatively, the driving electrode binding terminal 18 includes a first driving electrode binding terminal 181 and a second driving electrode binding terminal 182, and the first driving electrode binding terminal 181 and the second driving electrode binding terminal 182 are respectively located at both sides of the heating electrode binding terminal 17 along the first direction X.

The heating electrode binding terminal 17 and the driving electrode binding terminal 18 are arranged in the same direction, which is beneficial to reducing the width of the binding step and is beneficial to the miniaturization application of the phase shifter.

For example, as shown in fig. 7, 12 and 16, the heating electrode binding terminal 17 may include a first heating electrode binding terminal 171 and a second heating electrode binding terminal 172, and the driving electrode binding terminal 18 is located between the first heating electrode binding terminal 171 and the second heating electrode binding terminal 172 along the first direction X.

The heating electrode binding terminal 17 is provided in two parts, and correspondingly, the heating electrode binding terminal 17 is inserted into the driving electrode binding terminal 18, so that the arrangement mode of wiring between the heating electrode 16 and the heating electrode binding terminal 17 can be simplified, and the wiring difficulty can be reduced; meanwhile, the length of a connecting wire between the heating electrode 16 and the heating electrode binding terminal 17 is reduced, so that transmission voltage drop is reduced, and heating efficiency is improved.

In another embodiment, as shown in fig. 20, the driving electrode binding terminals 18 may include a first driving electrode binding terminal 181 and a second driving electrode binding terminal 182, and the heating electrode binding terminal 17 is located between the first driving electrode binding terminal 181 and the second driving electrode binding terminal 182 along the first direction X.

The drive electrode binding terminal 18 is arranged into two parts, and correspondingly arranged to be inserted into the heating electrode binding terminal 17, so that the arrangement mode of wiring between the drive electrode binding terminal 18 and the microstrip line 13 can be simplified, and the wiring difficulty is reduced; meanwhile, the length of the driving voltage transmission line 19 between the microstrip line 13 and the driving electrode binding terminal 18 is reduced, so that transmission voltage drop is reduced, and the accuracy of phase shifting is improved. It should be noted that two alternative arrangement directions are only exemplarily shown in fig. 16 and fig. 20, and it is understood that the heating electrode binding terminals 17 and the driving electrode binding terminals 18 may be arranged in other directions besides the first direction X shown in the drawings, and the first direction X is only parallel to the plane of the first substrate 10, which is not limited in the embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to fig. 1-20, optionally, the vertical projection of the heater electrode 16 on the second substrate 11 is located within the vertical projection of the ground metal layer 15 on the second substrate 11; the phase shifter further includes a first insulating layer 22, the first insulating layer 22 being located on a side of the heater electrode 16 adjacent to the ground metal layer 15.

Specifically, as shown in fig. 1 to 20, the heating electrode 16 is located between the second substrate 11 and the ground metal layer 15, and a perpendicular projection of the ground metal layer 15 in the direction of the second substrate 11 covers a perpendicular projection of the heating electrode 16 in the direction of the second substrate 11, that is, in the thickness direction of the second substrate 11, the ground metal layer 15 covers the heating electrode 16. The arrangement mode can ensure that the shielding effect of the grounding metal layer 15 on radio frequency signals is further utilized, the influence of the heating electrode 16 on the radio frequency signals is reduced, and the performance of the phase shifter is ensured.

In addition, with continued reference to fig. 1-20, a first insulating layer 22 may be further disposed on a side of the heating electrode 16 close to the ground metal layer 15 to isolate the heating electrode 16 from the ground metal layer 15 and prevent a short circuit between the heating electrode 16 and the ground metal layer 15. The material of the first insulating layer 22 may be selected according to actual requirements, which is not limited in the embodiment of the present invention, for example, SiN may be selected_xEtc. insulating material.

Optionally, the material of the heating electrode 16 includes one or more of ITO, molybdenum, and aluminum.

The heating electrode 16 can be prepared by only one material, and the preparation process is simple and easy to implement; in some embodiments, the heating electrode 16 may also be formed by stacking a plurality of metal materials, for example, the heating electrode 16 is formed by a three-layer stack structure of mo, al, mo, and the embodiments of the present invention are not limited thereto.

It can be understood that the resistivity, the temperature coefficient, and the like of the material of the heating electrode 16 are related to the heating effect, and in the implementation of the present invention, the material of the heating electrode 16 can be selected according to the actual requirement, so that the heating electrode 16 can meet the actual heating requirement of the phase shifter. The material of the heating electrode 16 includes, but is not limited to, the above materials, and may also be other metal conductive oxide materials or metal materials, and any material capable of realizing the function of the heating electrode 16 is within the protection scope of the technical solution of the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 21 is a schematic structural diagram of another phase shifter according to an embodiment of the present invention, and fig. 22 is an enlarged structural diagram of fig. 21 at K. Referring to fig. 21 and 22, alternatively, the heating electrode 16 includes a serpentine structure, the serpentine structure includes a plurality of heating electrode subsections 161 connected in sequence, the heating electrode subsections 161 are arranged along the second direction Y and extend along the third direction Z, and the vertical projection of the microstrip line 13 on the first substrate 10 is located between the vertical projections of the adjacent heating electrode subsections 161 on the first substrate 10; the second direction Y and the third direction Z are both parallel to the plane of the first substrate 10, and the second direction Y intersects with the third direction Z.

Illustratively, as shown in fig. 21 and 22, the heating electrode subsections 161 are arranged along the second direction Y and extend along the third direction Z, and the heating electrode subsections 161 are sequentially connected by the heating connection subsection 162, wherein the heating connection subsection 162 may extend along the second direction Y so that the heating electrode 16 forms a serpentine structure. The heating electrode 16 is arranged in a serpentine structure, so that the heating electrode 16 can cover more positions and be distributed more uniformly, and the heating effect on the liquid crystal layer 14 and the uniformity of heat distribution are improved.

In the present embodiment, as shown in fig. 21 and 22, the second direction Y and the third direction Z are both parallel to the plane of the first substrate 10, and the second direction Y is perpendicular to the third direction Z, but is not limited thereto. In other embodiments, the specific orientations of the second direction Y and the third direction Z may be set according to actual requirements, as long as the second direction Y is ensured to intersect with the third direction Z, which is not limited in the embodiment of the present invention.

Further, the heating electrode 16 may be disposed to match the microstrip line 13. Illustratively, as shown in fig. 21 and fig. 22, the vertical projection of the microstrip line 13 on the first substrate 10 is located between the vertical projections of the adjacent heating electrode subsections 161 on the first substrate 10, and at this time, there is no overlapping area between the vertical projection of the microstrip line 13 on the first substrate 10 and the vertical projection of the heating electrode subsections 161 on the first substrate 10, so that while the temperature uniformity of the liquid crystal layer 14 is improved, the influence of the heating electrode 16 on the radio frequency signal transmitted on the microstrip line 13 can be further reduced, which is helpful for improving the phase shifting performance of the phase shifter.

It should be noted that fig. 21 and 22 only show an alternative arrangement of the serpentine structures, and in other embodiments, the serpentine structures may be set by those skilled in the art according to actual situations.

Meanwhile, the heating electrode 16 is not limited to a serpentine structure, and for example, as shown in fig. 1, 4-7, 12, 14, and 20, the heating electrode 16 may also be a straight line located between adjacent microstrip lines 13 along a direction parallel to the plane of the first substrate 10, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 23 is a schematic structural view of another phase shifter according to an embodiment of the present invention, and referring to fig. 23, exemplary heating electrodes 16 having a serpentine structure and heating electrodes having a straight-line structure are disposed along a direction parallel to a plane of the first substrate 10. The heating electrodes 16 of the serpentine structure and the linear structure exist at the same time, so that the coverage area of the heating electrodes 16 is wider, the heating uniformity of the liquid crystal layer 14 is further improved, and the design flexibility of the heating electrodes 16 is improved.

It can be understood that due to the shielding effect of the ground metal layer 15, in other embodiments, the heating electrode 16 may also be at least partially overlapped with the microstrip line 13 along the thickness direction of the first substrate 10, so that the arrangement of the heating electrode 16 is not affected by the position of the microstrip line 13 on the premise of avoiding affecting the transmission of the radio frequency signal, and the design flexibility of the heating electrode 16 is improved.

It should be noted that, a person skilled in the art may arbitrarily set the shape of the microstrip line 13 according to actual requirements, for example, as shown in fig. 1 to 23, the shape of the microstrip line 13 may be a spiral shape, and in other embodiments, the shape of the microstrip line 13 may also be a straight line shape, a serpentine shape, a W shape, a U shape, a comb shape, a zigzag shape, and the like, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present invention.

Based on the same inventive concept, an embodiment of the present invention further provides an antenna, where the antenna includes the phase shifter according to any embodiment of the present invention, and therefore, the antenna provided in the embodiment of the present invention has the technical effect of the technical solution in any embodiment, and the explanation of the structure and the terminology that are the same as or corresponding to the above embodiment is not repeated herein.

Fig. 24 is a schematic structural diagram of an antenna according to an embodiment of the present invention, and fig. 25 is a schematic partial cross-sectional structural diagram of an antenna according to an embodiment of the present invention, referring to fig. 24 and fig. 25, optionally, the antenna according to an embodiment of the present invention further includes a radiation electrode 23, where the radiation electrode 23 is located on a side of the second substrate 11 away from the ground metal layer 15; the ground metal layer 15 includes a first hollow portion 151, and the radiation electrode 23 covers the first hollow portion 151 in a direction perpendicular to the second substrate 11.

Specifically, as shown in fig. 24 and fig. 25, the ground metal layer 15 is provided with a first hollow-out portion 151, a vertical projection of the radiation electrode 23 on a plane where the ground metal layer 15 is located covers the first hollow-out portion 151, a radio frequency signal is transmitted between the microstrip line 13 and the ground metal layer 15, the liquid crystal layer 14 between the microstrip line 13 and the ground metal layer 15 shifts a phase of the radio frequency signal to change a phase of the radio frequency signal, the radio frequency signal after the phase shift is coupled to the radiation electrode 23 at the first hollow-out portion 151 of the ground metal layer 15, and the radiation electrode 23 radiates the signal outwards. Specific parameters of the first hollow portion 151, such as a diameter of the first hollow portion 151, may be set according to an actual situation, which is not limited in the embodiment of the present invention. The vertical projection of the radiation electrode 23 is arranged to cover the first hollow portion 151, so that the radio-frequency signal after phase shifting can reach the radiation electrode 23 above the radiation electrode through the first hollow portion 151, and outward radiation of the radio-frequency signal is ensured.

It should be noted that the radiation electrodes 23 are disposed corresponding to the phase shift units 12, for example, the radiation electrodes 23 are disposed corresponding to the phase shift units 12 one to one, and the radiation electrodes 23 corresponding to different phase shift units 12 are disposed in an insulated manner.

With continued reference to FIG. 25, optionally, the vertical projection of the radiation electrode 23 on the first substrate 10 is a first projection, the vertical projection of the heating electrode 16 on the first substrate 10 is a second projection, and the shortest distance between the boundary of the first projection on the side close to the second projection and the boundary of the second projection on the side close to the first projection is D1, wherein D1 ≧ 100 μm.

Illustratively, as shown in fig. 25, there is a gap between the first projection of the radiation electrode 23 on the first substrate 10 and the second projection of the heating electrode 16 on the first substrate 10, and the shortest distance D1 between the boundary of the first projection close to the second projection side and the boundary of the second projection close to the first projection side, that is, the shortest distance of the gap between the boundaries of the first projection and the second projection close to each other satisfies D1 ≧ 100 μm, so that the influence of the heating electrode 16 on the radio frequency signal on the radiation electrode 23 can be reduced, and the working performance of the phase shifter can be ensured.

The shortest distance D1 between the boundary of the first projection near the second projection side and the boundary of the second projection near the first projection side can be specifically set according to actual conditions, and in other embodiments, 0 < D1 < 100 μm can be set, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present invention.

Fig. 26 is a schematic partial cross-sectional structure view of another antenna provided in an embodiment of the present invention, and referring to fig. 26, the antenna in this embodiment may further include a radiation electrode 23, where the radiation electrode 23 is located on a side of the first substrate 10 away from the microstrip line 13; the radiation electrode 23 at least partially overlaps the microstrip line 13 in a direction perpendicular to the second substrate 11.

As shown in fig. 26, in the present embodiment, the phase shifter may be flip-chip disposed, and the radiation electrode 23 may be disposed on the first substrate 10, specifically, on a side of the first substrate 10 away from the microstrip line 13. It can be understood that, since the heating electrode 16 is disposed between the second substrate 11 and the ground metal layer 15, the distance between the heating electrode 16 and the radiation electrode 23 is further increased, and the influence of the heating electrode 16 on the radio frequency signal on the radiation electrode 23 is further reduced, so as to further ensure the operational reliability of the antenna.

In addition, with reference to fig. 26, along a direction perpendicular to the plane of the second substrate 11, the radiation electrode 23 and the microstrip line 13 at least partially overlap, that is, there is an overlapping portion between the vertical projection of the radiation electrode 23 in the direction of the second substrate 11 and the vertical projection of the microstrip line 13 in the direction of the second substrate 11, which is beneficial to that the radio frequency signal phase-shifted by the microstrip line 13 can be coupled to the radiation electrode 23 by the microstrip line 13, so as to ensure the sending of the radio frequency signal.

With continued reference to fig. 26, alternatively, the perpendicular projection of the radiation electrode 23 on the first substrate 10 is a first projection, the perpendicular projection of the heating electrode 16 on the first substrate 10 is a second projection, and the shortest distance between the boundary of the first projection on the side close to the second projection and the boundary of the second projection on the side close to the first projection is D2, where D2 > 0.

Specifically, as shown in fig. 26, there is a gap between the first projection of the radiation electrode 23 on the first substrate 10 and the second projection of the heating electrode 16 on the first substrate 10, that is, the shortest distance D2 between the boundary of the first projection on the side close to the second projection and the boundary of the second projection on the side close to the first projection (the shortest distance of the gap between the boundaries of the first projection and the second projection close to each other) satisfies D2 > 0, so as to reduce the influence of the heating electrode 16 on the radio frequency signal on the radiation electrode 23 and ensure the working performance of the phase shifter.

It should be noted that, because the radiation electrode 23 is located on the side of the first substrate 10 away from the microstrip line 13, the distance between the heating electrode 16 and the radiation electrode 23 is relatively long, and the influence of the heating electrode 16 on the radio frequency signal is relatively small, at this time, only D2 needs to be set to be greater than 0, and the specific value of D2 may be set according to an actual situation, which is not limited in the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 27 is a schematic partial cross-sectional structure diagram of another antenna provided in an embodiment of the present invention, and referring to fig. 25 to 27, optionally, the antenna in the embodiment of the present invention further includes a feed network 24, where the feed network 24 and the radiation electrode 23 are disposed in the same layer, or the feed network 24 and the microstrip line 13 are disposed in the same layer.

In particular, the feeding network 24 is used for transmitting the radio frequency signal to each phase shift unit 12, wherein the feeding network 24 may be distributed like a tree and includes a plurality of branches, and one branch provides the radio frequency signal for one phase shift unit 12. As shown in fig. 25, the feeding network 24 may be disposed on the same layer as the radiating electrode 23, that is, the feeding network 24 and the radiating electrode 23 are disposed coplanar, and the feeding network 24 and the microstrip line 13 are disposed on different layers. A second hollow-out portion 152 may be disposed on the ground metal layer 15, and a vertical projection of the feed network 24 on a plane where the ground metal layer 15 is located is at least partially overlapped with the second hollow-out portion 152, so that the radio frequency signal transmitted by the feed network 24 is coupled to the microstrip line 13 at the second hollow-out portion 152 of the ground metal layer 15, and further, by controlling a deflection of the liquid crystal molecules 141 in the liquid crystal layer 14, a dielectric constant of the liquid crystal layer 14 is changed, thereby implementing phase shifting of the radio frequency signal on the microstrip line 13.

In this embodiment, the feed network 24 and the radiation electrode 23 are disposed in the same layer, so that the feed network 24 and the microstrip line 13 are separately disposed, which helps to prevent crosstalk between voltage signals transmitted in the microstrip line 13 and each phase shift unit 12, and improves the reliability of the antenna operation.

Optionally, as shown in fig. 27, the feed network 24 may also be disposed on the same layer as the microstrip line 13, that is, the feed network 24 and the microstrip line 13 are disposed in a coplanar manner, and at this time, the feed network 24 is coupled to the microstrip line 13, and compared with the case that the radio frequency signal transmitted by the feed network 24 is coupled to the microstrip line 13 through the liquid crystal layer 14, the feed network 24 may directly transmit the radio frequency signal to the microstrip line 13, so as to reduce the loss of the radio frequency signal and improve the antenna performance.

With continued reference to fig. 25-27, an antenna provided by embodiments of the present invention may optionally further include a radio frequency signal interface 25 and a pad 26. One end of the radio frequency signal interface 25 is connected to the feed network 24 and fixed by a bonding pad 26, and the other end of the radio frequency signal interface 25 is used for connecting external circuits such as a high frequency connector. The above-mentioned radio frequency signal interface 25 can be configured according to actual conditions, and the configuration shown in fig. 25 to 27 is only an alternative configuration.

With continuing reference to fig. 25 and 27, optionally, the antenna provided in this embodiment of the present invention further includes a third substrate 27, where the third substrate 27 is located on a side of the second substrate 11 away from the ground metal layer 15, and the radiation electrode 23 is located on a side of the third substrate 27 away from the second substrate 11. When the antenna is manufactured, the radiation electrode 23 can be manufactured on one side of the third substrate 27, the heating electrode 16, the grounding metal layer 15 and the like are manufactured on one side of the second substrate 11, and then the third substrate 27 and the second substrate 11 are attached through the adhesive layer 28.

With continued reference to fig. 26, optionally, the antenna provided in the embodiment of the present invention further includes a fourth substrate 29, where the fourth substrate 29 is located on a side of the first substrate 10 away from the ground metal layer 15, and the radiation electrode 23 is located on a side of the fourth substrate 29 away from the first substrate 10. When the antenna is manufactured, the radiation electrode 23 can be manufactured on one side of the fourth substrate 29, the microstrip line 13 is manufactured on one side of the first substrate 10, and the fourth substrate 29 is attached to the first substrate 10 through the adhesive layer 28.

The adhesive layer 28 may be optical adhesive or other adhesive materials, which is not limited in the embodiment of the present invention.

It is to be noted that the foregoing is only illustrative of the preferred embodiments of the present invention and the technical principles employed. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to the particular embodiments illustrated herein, but is capable of various obvious modifications, rearrangements, combinations and substitutions as will now become apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention. Therefore, although the present invention has been described in greater detail by the above embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and may include other equivalent embodiments without departing from the spirit of the present invention, and the scope of the present invention is determined by the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A phase shifter, comprising:

the first substrate and the second substrate are oppositely arranged;

2. The phase shifter according to claim 1,

the first substrate comprises a first binding step, at least part of the first binding step is positioned outside a coverage area of the second substrate in the vertical projection of the plane of the first substrate, and the driving electrode binding terminal is positioned on the first binding step;

the second substrate comprises a second binding step, at least part of the second binding step is positioned outside a coverage area of the first substrate in the vertical projection of the plane of the second substrate, and the heating electrode binding terminal is positioned on the second binding step.

3. The phase shifter according to claim 2,

and the first binding step and the second binding step are positioned on different sides of the phase shifter along a direction parallel to the plane of the first substrate.

4. The phase shifter according to claim 2,

the first binding step and the second binding step are positioned on the same side of the phase shifter along a direction parallel to the plane of the first substrate;

and the vertical projection of the second binding step on the plane of the first substrate is positioned outside the area of the first binding step.

5. The phase shifter according to claim 1,

the first substrate comprises a first binding step, the first binding step is positioned outside a coverage area of a vertical projection of the second substrate on a plane where the first substrate is positioned, and the heating electrode binding terminal and the driving electrode binding terminal are both positioned on the first binding step;

the phase shifter further comprises a conductive connection structure, the conductive connection structure comprises a first conductive connection structure, and the heating electrode is electrically connected with the heating electrode binding terminal through the first conductive connection structure.

6. The phase shifter as recited in claim 5,

the vertical projection of the heating electrode on the first substrate and the vertical projection of the heating electrode binding terminal on the first substrate at least partially overlap.

7. The phase shifter according to claim 1,

the second substrate comprises a second binding step, at least part of the second binding step is positioned outside a coverage area of the first substrate in the vertical projection of the plane of the second substrate, and the heating electrode binding terminal and the driving electrode binding terminal are both positioned on the second binding step;

the phase shifter further comprises a conductive connection structure, the conductive connection structure comprises a second conductive connection structure, and the microstrip line is electrically connected with the drive electrode binding terminal through the second conductive connection structure.

8. Phase shifter as in claim 5 or 7,

the conductive connection structure comprises silver paste.

9. Phase shifter as in claim 5 or 7,

the conductive connection structure comprises a rubber frame and a conductive structure positioned in the rubber frame.

10. The phase shifter according to claim 9,

the conductive structure includes a gold ball.

11. Phase shifter as in claim 5 or 7,

and the driving electrode binding terminal and the heating electrode binding terminal are positioned on the same side of the phase shifter along a direction parallel to the plane of the first substrate.

12. Phase shifter as in claim 4, 5 or 7,

the heating electrode binding terminals are arranged along a first direction, and the driving electrode binding terminals are arranged along the first direction;

the heating electrode binding terminal comprises a first heating electrode binding terminal and a second heating electrode binding terminal, and the first heating electrode binding terminal and the second heating electrode binding terminal are respectively positioned on two sides of the driving electrode binding terminal along the first direction;

or, the driving electrode binding terminal includes a first driving electrode binding terminal and a second driving electrode binding terminal, and the first driving electrode binding terminal and the second driving electrode binding terminal are respectively located at two sides of the heating electrode binding terminal along the first direction.

13. The phase shifter according to claim 1,

the vertical projection of the heating electrode on the second substrate is positioned in the vertical projection of the grounding metal layer on the second substrate;

the phase shifter further comprises a first insulating layer positioned on one side of the heating electrode close to the ground metal layer.

14. The phase shifter according to claim 1,

the material of the heating electrode comprises one or more of ITO, molybdenum and aluminum.

15. The phase shifter according to claim 1,

the heating electrode comprises a serpentine structure, the serpentine structure comprises a plurality of heating electrode subsections which are sequentially connected, the heating electrode subsections are arranged along a second direction and extend along a third direction, and the vertical projection of the microstrip line on the first substrate is positioned between the vertical projections of the adjacent heating electrode subsections on the first substrate;

the second direction and the third direction are both parallel to the plane of the first substrate, and the second direction is intersected with the third direction.

16. An antenna comprising a phase shifter according to any one of claims 1 to 15.

17. The antenna of claim 16,

the antenna further comprises a radiation electrode, and the radiation electrode is positioned on one side of the second substrate, which is far away from the grounding metal layer;

the ground metal layer comprises a first hollow-out part, and the radiation electrode covers the first hollow-out part along a direction perpendicular to the second substrate.

18. The antenna of claim 17,

the vertical projection of the radiation electrode on the first substrate is a first projection, the vertical projection of the heating electrode on the first substrate is a second projection, and the shortest distance between the boundary of the first projection close to one side of the second projection and the boundary of the second projection close to one side of the first projection is D1, wherein D1 is more than or equal to 100 mu m.

19. The antenna of claim 16,

the antenna also comprises a radiation electrode, and the radiation electrode is positioned on one side of the first substrate, which is far away from the microstrip line; the radiation electrode is at least partially overlapped with the microstrip line along a direction perpendicular to the second substrate.

20. The antenna of claim 19,

the vertical projection of the radiation electrode on the first substrate is a first projection, the vertical projection of the heating electrode on the first substrate is a second projection, and the shortest distance between the boundary of the first projection on the side close to the second projection and the boundary of the second projection on the side close to the first projection is D2, wherein D2 > 0.

21. The antenna of claim 17 or 19,

the antenna further comprises a feed network;

the feed network and the radiation electrode are arranged on the same layer, or the feed network and the microstrip line are arranged on the same layer.