A fully passive RF switch based on nanometric conductive bridge

This paper presents a novel fully passive and reversible RF switch based on resistive switching effect observed in CBRAM memory. To maintain the on state or the off state no power is required, since as for a mechanical bi-stable switch, the on state is characterized by a real metallic bridge while the off state is related to the absence of this bridge. To switch on, a positive voltage up to 10V is necessary during few second to create the conductive filament, while a negative voltage is necessary to break it. To validate this new concept, a DC characterization has been conducted to determine the best way to switch between the two states. The transition has been characterized up to 0.15 GHz and an isolation of −20 dB with a insertion loss of −1.6 dB has been observed at 0.15GHz with a very simple design. To go further, a design of a switch able to operate up to 10GHz is presented.