Low-Voltage and High-Reliability RF MEMS Switch with Combined Electrothermal and Electrostatic Actuation.

Yong Zhu,Jitendra Pal

doi:10.3390/mi12101237

Abstract

In this paper, we report a novel laterally actuated Radio Frequency (RF) Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) switch, which is based on a combination of electrothermal actuation and electrostatic latching hold. The switch takes the advantages of both actuation mechanisms: large actuation force, low actuation voltage, and high reliability of the thermal actuation for initial movement; and low power consumption of the electrostatic actuation for holding the switch in position in ON state. The switch with an initial switch gap of 7 µm has an electrothermal actuation voltage of 7 V and an electrostatic holding voltage of 21 V. The switch achieves superior RF performances: the measured insertion loss is −0.73 dB at 6 GHz, whereas the isolation is −46 dB at 6 GHz. In addition, the switch shows high reliability and power handling capability: the switch can operate up to 10 million cycles without failure with 1 W power applied to its signal line.

Highlights

Introduction with Combined Electrothermal andThe increasing demand for high-performance, low-cost, and miniaturized wireless communication systems has driven the rapid development of novel devices for radio frequency (RF), microwave, and millimeter-wave circuits and systems
To solve the above issues, we propose a new design of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) switches, combining the unique characteristics of electrothermal and electrostatic actuators
We report a lateral actuated RF MEMS switch that employs a two-step switching operation: a V-shaped electrothermal actuator moves the switch contacts to touch the separated RF signal lines; and the switch remains in the ON state using electrostatic latching mechanism

Summary

Introduction

The increasing demand for high-performance, low-cost, and miniaturized wireless communication systems has driven the rapid development of novel devices for radio frequency (RF), microwave, and millimeter-wave circuits and systems. RF switching has been done using semiconductor devices such as positive-intrinsic-negative (PIN) diodes and field-effect transistors (FETs) [1,2,3]. These semiconductor switches inherently suffer high losses at high frequencies in GHz range. Many researchers have attempted to investigate potential RF switching devices which are compact, linear, and power efficient. RF microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) are one of the potential candidates which have reformed the RF systems by realization of high-performance devices and components

Methods

Discussion

Conclusion