Title :
Pulse RF operation of MEMS capacitive switches
Author :
Palego, Cristiano ; Deng, Jie ; Halder, Subrata ; Peng, Zhen ; Hwang, James C M ; Forehand, David I. ; Goldsmith, Charles L.
Author_Institution :
ECE, Lehigh Univ., Bethlehem, PA, USA
Abstract :
Shifts in the pull-in voltage of electrostatically actuated MEMS capacitive switches were characterized under pulse RF excitation, which allowed the electrical and thermal effects of the RF excitation to be separated. The resulted multiphysics model accurately predicted the pull-in voltage shift under different pulse powers and duty cycles. By comparing the power capacity of switches made of aluminum or molybdenum, a new figure of merit is proposed for selecting the optimum material for the fabrication of high-power MEMS capacitive switches.
Keywords :
aluminium; electrostatic actuators; microswitches; microwave switches; molybdenum; Al; Mo; aluminum; electrical effects; electrostatically actuated MEMS capacitive switches; high-power MEMS capacitive switch fabrication; molybdenum; pull-in voltage shifts; pulse RF excitation; pulse RF operation; thermal effects; Communication switching; Electromagnetic heating; Micromechanical devices; Pulse circuits; Radio frequency; Switches; Thermal conductivity; Thermal expansion; Thermal factors; Voltage; microelectromechanical devices; microwave devices; microwave switches; pulse measurement;
Conference_Titel :
Microwave Integrated Circuits Conference, 2009. EuMIC 2009. European
Conference_Location :
Rome
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4244-4749-7
