Lateral Contact Three-State RF MEMS Switch for Ground Wireless Communication by Actuating Rhombic Structures

A laterally actuated three-state RF microelectromechanical systems switch for ground wireless communication applications is proposed, fabricated, and tested. By electrostatically actuating a rhombic beam, the proposed switch can not only realize the off-state to on -state shifting but also provide an additional deep off state. The switch was fabricated by silicon on glass (SOG) bulk silicon micromachining. The 2- μm-thick gold electroplating layers were introduced in the SOG process to enhance the performance of lateral contacts. The off-state and deep- off-state isolations of the prototype switch were measured to be -67.6 dB and - 72.2 dB at 0.9 GHz and -48.3 dB and -53.0 dB at 6 GHz, respectively. The measured insertion loss is -0.13 dB at 0.9 GHz and -0.38 dB at 6 GHz, respectively. The measured actuation voltage is 78 V. The switching-on and switching-off response times are 72 and 64 μs, respectively.

[1]  Hyeon Cheol Kim,et al.  Single pole four throw RF MEMS switch with double stop comb drive , 2008, 2008 IEEE 21st International Conference on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems.

[2]  Gabriel M. Rebeiz,et al.  Steady state thermal analysis and high-power reliability considerations of RF MEMS capacitive switches , 2002, 2002 IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium Digest (Cat. No.02CH37278).

[3]  J. Perruisseau-Carrier,et al.  RF MEMS capacitive switch on semi-suspended CPW using low-loss high-resistivity silicon substrate , 2008 .

[4]  John L. Volakis,et al.  Full-wave electromagnetic and thermal modeling for the prediction of heat-dissipation-induced RF-MEMS switch failure , 2005 .

[5]  W. Marsden.  I and J , 2012 .

[6]  Youngmin Kim,et al.  A Non-Contact-Type RF MEMS Switch for 24-GHz Radar Applications , 2009, Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems.

[7]  Ai Qun Liu,et al.  A compact DC - 20 GHz SPDT switch circuit using lateral RF MEMS switches , 2005, 2005 Asia-Pacific Microwave Conference Proceedings.

[8]  S. Eshelman,et al.  Performance of low-loss RF MEMS capacitive switches , 1998 .

[9]  Joachim Oberhammer,et al.  Static Zero-Power-Consumption Coplanar Waveguide Embedded DC-to-RF Metal-Contact MEMS Switches in Two-Port and Three-Port Configuration , 2010, IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices.

[10]  J.L. Volakis,et al.  Skin-Effect Self-Heating in Air-Suspended RF MEMS Transmission-Line Structures , 2006, Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems.

[11]  N. S. Barker,et al.  A cryogenic broadband DC contact RF MEMS switch , 2009, 2009 IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium Digest.

[12]  Gabriel M. Rebeiz.  RF MEMS: Theory, Design and Technology , 2003 .

[13]  Qing-An Huang,et al.  RF MEMS membrane switches on GaAs substrates for X-band applications , 2005 .

[14]  Lluis Pradell,et al.  In-Plane Electrostatically-Actuated RF MEMS Switch Suspended on a Low-Resistivity Substrate , 2006, 2006 European Microwave Integrated Circuits Conference.

[15]  Jung-Mu Kim,et al.  A 50-110 GHz ohmic contact RF MEMS silicon switch with high isolation , 2010, 2010 IEEE 23rd International Conference on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS).

[16]  David Girbau,et al.  Electrothermally‐actuated RF‐MEMS suspended parallel switch , 2007 .

[17]  David Potter,et al.  Microswitches and microrelays with a view toward microwave applications , 1999 .

[18]  R.R. Mansour,et al.  Thermally Actuated Latching RF MEMS Switch and Its Characteristics , 2009, IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques.

[19]  Wei-Bin Zheng,et al.  RF MEMS membrane switches on GaAs substrates for X-band applications , 2005, Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems.

[20]  Yi Shi,et al.  A High Isolation Series-Shunt RF MEMS Switch , 2009, Sensors.