High-power high-contrast RF MEMS capacitive switch

Author

Solazzi, Francesco ; Palego, Cristiano ; Molinero, David ; Farinelli, P. ; Colpo, Sabrina ; Hwang, James C. M. ; Margesin, Benno ; Sorrentino, Roberto

Author_Institution

Fondzione Bruno Kessler-IRST, Trento, Italy

fYear

2012

Firstpage

32

Lastpage

35

Abstract

This paper reports on the first RF MEMS capacitive switch with a capacitance ratio of 130 that is stable almost up to 3 W of RF power. From an RF point of view the device behaves as a shunt capacitive switch, but employs an ohmic contact between the movable membrane and a floating metal deposited on the dielectric-coated stationary electrode, which is used to provide a high and repeatable ON state capacitance. In addition strain-relief anchor springs guarantee almost stable performances at high temperature and high power.

Keywords

electrodes; membranes; microswitches; microwave switches; ohmic contacts; RF MEMS capacitive switch; capacitance ratio; dielectric-coated stationary electrode; floating metal; movable membrane; ohmic contact; power 3 W; shunt capacitive switch; strain relief anchor springs; Capacitance; Contacts; Electrodes; Metals; Optical switches; Radio frequency; Micro-electromechanical systems; microwave devices; microwave power; switches; temperature coefficient;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Microwave Integrated Circuits Conference (EuMIC), 2012 7th European

Conference_Location

Amsterdam

Print_ISBN

978-1-4673-2302-4

Electronic_ISBN

978-2-87487-026-2

Type

conf

Filename

6483728