A flexible dipole antenna for direct transduction of microwave radiated power into DC mechanical deflection

A new device resulting from the merging of mechanical and electromagnetic properties of a couple of conductive cantilevered beams is described in this paper. The device, which is based on two metallic clamped-free beams which, at the same time, are the arms of a radio frequency dipole antenna is capable to receive the electromagnetic power radiated from an emitting antenna and transduce it directly in a dc mechanical actuation. A numerical model developed to describe the behavior of the device has been validated through the test of a millimeter scale demonstrator working in the microwave frequency band.