Novel Series and Shunt MEMS Switch Geometries for X-Band Applications

In this paper, novel metal membrane series switches and inductively tuned shunt switches are presented. The series switch produces an isolation better than - 30 dB at 5 GHz in the up-state and return loss less than ¿20 dB from DC to 20 GHz. The shunt switch geometry can be modified to specify the resonant frequency of the switch in the down-state. The shunt switch is modeled by an equivalent CLR circuit. The MEMS membrane height is 1.5-2.5 ¿m, resulting in a pulldown voltage of 15-25 V. Application areas are in low-loss high-isolation communication and radar switches.