Title :
Micromechanical silicon RF switch with electroplated solid contacts for high reliability
Author :
Menz, A. ; Hoper, R.
Author_Institution :
Protron Mikrotechnik GmbH, Bremen, Germany
Abstract :
A new micromechanical switch for high-frequency applications is presented. The switch is fabricated by silicon deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) and electroplating. The actuation is realized by an electrostatic parallel plate drive with high actuation force which allows the use of hard gold as contact material. The switch can be adapted for DC to 20 GHz applications. A hermetic zero-level packaging avoids contamination of the contact area. Simulation results are compared to measurements and show a good matching. Hot switched lifetime tests are presented. The switch is designed to be connected by flip-chip or wire bonding. The potential application areas are: mobile communication systems, test equipment, and radar systems.
Keywords :
electrical contacts; electronics packaging; electroplating; electrostatic actuators; elemental semiconductors; flip-chip devices; lead bonding; microfabrication; microswitches; reliability; silicon; sputter etching; DRIE; Si; contact area contamination; contact material; electroplated solid contact; electrostatic parallel plate drive actuation force; flip-chip; frequency 20 GHz; hermetic zero-level packaging; high-frequency application; microfabrication; micromechanical silicon RF switch design; mobile communication system; radar system; reliability; silicon deep reactive ion etching; switched lifetime testing; test equipment; wire bonding; Contacts; Electrostatics; Metals; Radio frequency; Silicon; Switches; DRIE; MEMS; RF switch; electroplating; reliability; silicon;
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
