A novel device for in situ experimental characterization and reliability analysis of DC-contact RF MEMS switches

Author

Peroulis, D. ; Katehi, L.P.B.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. Eng. & Comput. Sci., Michigan Univ., Ann Arbor, MI, USA

Volume

1

fYear

2003

Firstpage

867

Abstract

This paper reports a new fully-microfabricated device suitable for characterizing the force-resistance relationship for contact forces in the /spl mu/N region. The device consists of two gold beams-lower and upper beam-suspended 2 and 7.5 /spl mu/m respectively above a coplanar waveguide (cpw) line. An applied electrostatic voltage on the upper beam forces the lower beam to contact the cpw line with a contact force directly proportional to the externally applied electrostatic force. The force-resistance relationship is accurately established by measuring the device isolation over a bandwidth of 40 GHz. Preliminary measurements agree well with previously published experimental results of gold-to-gold contacts.

Keywords

contact resistance; coplanar waveguides; gold; microswitches; reliability theory; 2 micron; 40 GHz; 7.5 micron; DC-contact RF MEMS switches; applied electrostatic force; applied electrostatic voltage; bandwidth; contact force; coplanar waveguide line; device isolation; force-resistance relationship; gold beam; gold-gold contacts; microfabricated device; reliability analysis; Bandwidth; Contacts; Electrical resistance measurement; Electrostatic measurements; Gold; Pollution measurement; Radio frequency; Radiofrequency microelectromechanical systems; Switches; Voltage;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

TRANSDUCERS, Solid-State Sensors, Actuators and Microsystems, 12th International Conference on, 2003

Conference_Location

Boston, MA, USA

Print_ISBN

0-7803-7731-1

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/SENSOR.2003.1215612

Filename

1215612