RF MEMS switches fabricated on microwave-laminate printed circuit boards

Author

Chang, Hung-Pin ; Qian, Jiangyuan ; Cetiner, Bedri A. ; De Flaviis, F. ; Bachman, Mark ; Li, G.P.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. Eng. & Comput. Sci., California Univ., Irvine, CA, USA

Volume

24

Issue

4

fYear

2003

fDate

4/1/2003 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

227

Lastpage

229

Abstract

A novel fabrication process has been developed for directly constructing radio frequency microelectrical mechanical systems (RF MEMS) capacitive switches on microwave-laminate printed circuit boards (PCBs). The integrated process uses metal wet etching to form the metal lines for coplanar waveguides, compressive molding planarization (COMP) to planarize uneven surface heights for switch membrane formation, and high-density, inductively coupled plasma chemical vapor deposition (HDICP-CVD) for low-temperature silicon nitride deposition. This technology promises the potential of further monolithic integration with antennas on the same PCBs to form reconfigurable antennas without the concerns of mismatching among components.

Keywords

coplanar waveguide components; etching; laminates; membranes; microswitches; moulding; planarisation; plasma CVD; printed circuit manufacture; RF MEMS capacitive switch; SiN; compressive molding planarization; coplanar waveguide; fabrication process; high-density inductively coupled plasma chemical vapor deposition; low-temperature silicon nitride deposition; membrane formation; metal line; microwave-laminate printed circuit board; monolithic integration; reconfigurable antenna; wet etching; Antenna accessories; Coplanar waveguides; Fabrication; Mechanical systems; Printed circuits; Radio frequency; Radiofrequency microelectromechanical systems; Switches; Switching circuits; Wet etching;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Electron Device Letters, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0741-3106

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/LED.2003.812150

Filename

1206846