Cyclic evolution of bouncing for contacts in commercial RF MEMS switches

This paper systematically investigates for the first time the evolution of switch bounce for the Omron 2SMES-01 switch as a function of lifetime cycling. We demonstrate that the first bounce duration monotonically increases by as much as 20% over 200 million cycles. In addition, the amplitude of tertiary bounces monotonically increase by as much as 100 % over the same interval with the spontaneous occurrence of new bounces persisting as cycle count increases. Measurement of switch bouncing provides a readily accessible form of transient analysis of RF MEMS contacts and has the potential to become an indispensable tool for in-situ switch diagnostics related to adhesion forces, contact hardening, and film formation. A novel automated platform for studying both static and dynamic switch characteristics over the lifetime of an RF MEMS switch is demonstrated as well.

[1]  Paul G. Slade,et al.  Electrical contacts : principles and applications , 1999 .

[2]  R. Nelson,et al.  Design, Performance and Qualification of a Commercially Available MEMS Switch , 2006, 2006 European Microwave Conference.

[3]  N. McGruer,et al.  Mechanical, Thermal, and Material Influences on Ohmic-Contact-Type MEMS Switch Operation , 2006, 19th IEEE International Conference on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems.

[4]  H. Newman,et al.  Lifetime Measurements on a High-Reliability RF-MEMS Contact Switch , 2008, IEEE Microwave and Wireless Components Letters.

[5]  T. Seki,et al.  Development of SPDT-structured RF MEMS switch , 2009, TRANSDUCERS 2009 - 2009 International Solid-State Sensors, Actuators and Microsystems Conference.

[6]  O. Wunnicke,et al.  Small, low-ohmic RF MEMS switches with thin-film package , 2011, 2011 IEEE 24th International Conference on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems.