Design and modeling of RF MEMS switch by reducing the number of interfaces

The transverse wave concept iterative procedure is presented for full wave investigation of MEMS capacitive switch. Using the transverse wave approach we can reduce the number of interfaces in planar circuit by the introduction of adequate boundary conditions. The circuit plane includes four subdomains: Metal (M), Dielectric (I), Sources (S1 and S2), and switch (SW). The switch subdomain is characterized as a lumped element model in the two states that are on and off. Taking use of the major advantages of the wave concept iterative procedure method offered by the developed fast modal transform (FMT), which is based on the 2D-FFT algorithm, minimum computation time, and less memory, is needed to calculate the scattering parameters of the switch. Two different MEMS switches are studied that are the cantilever and the air bridge. The simulated results for these examples show very good agreement compared with those obtained by other methods. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 49: 1166–1170, 2007; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.22378