Experimentally validated and automatically generated multi-energy domain coupled model of a RF-MEMS switch

We present a computationally efficient multi-energy domain coupled system-level model of an electrostatically actuated RF-MEMS switch exposed to squeeze film damping. The physically-based model is systematically derived and calibrated on the basis of a hierarchical modeling approach. The model shows excellent agreement with both static and dynamic measurements performed with a white light interferometer. Especially coupling effects, that are the increased damping and the spring softening whilst actuation, are correctly reproduced by the model. This demonstrates the power of our modeling approach and, in particular, the predictiveness w.r.t. “real world” experiments. Furthermore, the automatically generated model is suitable for direct implementation into standard EDA tools for IC's, like Cadence™ and Mentor Graphics®.