The study of a RF MEMS switch based on LCP substrate

Abstract

This paper reports a RF MEMS switch which is fabricated on a Liquid Crystal Polymer (LCP) substrate. The low cost, low water absorption, low dielectric loss and multi-layer circuit capability make LCP substrate very suitable for RF devices and RF circuits. The novelty of the proposed switch which is fabricated on LCP substrate is that the DC signal which is applied to activate the switch and the AC signal of the clamped-clamped CPW switch is separated. The experiment results show good microwave performance, when the switch is in the DOWN state, the isolation is around 20dB up to 20GHz. When the switch is in the UP state, the insertion loss is around 0.50dB up to 20GHz and the return loss is better than 20dB up to 20GHz.