Design and characterization of RF MEMS capacitive shunt switch for X, Ku, K and Ka band applications

Abstract

In this paper, we present the design and development of a Radio Frequency Micro-Electro-Mechanical-Systems (RF-MEMS) capacitive shunt switch based on a fixed-fixed beam configuration for X (8–12 GHz), Ku (12–18 GHz), K (18–26 GHz) and Ka (26–40 GHz) band applications. The design parameters for RF switch have been taken into consideration based on in-house standard 6” CMOS foundry. Silicon substrate with high resistivity (ρ > 8 kΩ-cm, εr = 11.8, and tanδ = 0.01) has been utilized for the realization of MEMS switch. The device demonstrates the pull in voltage of 22.78 V. The measured return loss, insertion loss and isolation are better than 20 dB, 0.5 dB and 25 dB respectively, over the entire frequency band (0–40 GHz).The electromechanical and electromagnetic analyses of 3D structure were performed using Finite Element Method (FEM) & Method of Moments (MoM) based full wave simulators. Design and simulation data was further validated by measured results during DC and RF characterization of the devices.