Dielectric charging in MEMS with dielectric-dielectric contacts

Author

Molinero, David ; Shen, Chih-Teng ; Hwang, James C. M. ; Stamper, A.K. ; Cunningham, S.J. ; Morris, A.S.

Author_Institution

Lehigh Univ., Bethlehem, PA, USA

fYear

2013

fDate

16-20 June 2013

Firstpage

1400

Lastpage

1403

Abstract

This paper analyzes the dielectric charging effects in microelectromechanical capacitive switches with dielectric-dielectric contacts. Measurements were performed on switches with different contact topologies to characterize the charging of the surface and the bulk of the dielectric under different hold-down voltages and periods. The results showed a strong correlation between surface charging and surface treatment as well as contact area. With proper surface treatment and contact bumps, surface charging was suppressed and the remaining bulk charging was sufficiently small to allow the switches to withstand long-term hold-down tests.

Keywords

capacitors; microswitches; microwave switches; surface charging; surface treatment; MEMS switch; contact bump; contact topology; dielectric charging effect; dielectric-dielectric contact; hold down period; hold down voltage; microelectromechanical capacitive switch; surface charging characterization; surface charging suppression; surface treatment; Contacts; Dielectrics; Micromechanical devices; Radio frequency; Surface charging; Surface impedance; Surface treatment; RF MEMS; dielectric charging; insulator; triboelectric effects;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Solid-State Sensors, Actuators and Microsystems (TRANSDUCERS & EUROSENSORS XXVII), 2013 Transducers & Eurosensors XXVII: The 17th International Conference on

Conference_Location

Barcelona

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/Transducers.2013.6627040

Filename

6627040