A low-actuation voltage design for RF CMOS-MEMS switches

A switch-based micromechanical actuator fabricated using a foundry-oriented CMOS-MEMS platform has been demonstrated with low actuation voltages via the pull-in aided frame design. With such a two-stage mechanical design, the actuation voltage of the proposed actuator has been reduced by 35% as compared to that of the conventional single-stage counterpart with the same off-state gap spacing while the switch structure of this work still preserves similar switching time (i.e., relatively the same fundamental resonance frequency). The switch design methodology and foundry-type fabrication technology is expected to bring mechanical on/off switching capability into high-Q CMOS-MEMS circuits for future multimode, multi-band wireless communication systems.