Low actuation voltage through three electrodes topology for RF MEMS capacitive switch

This paper presents the investigation results of low actuation voltage for RF MEMS capacitive switches using three electrodes topology. The main purpose of the investigation is to verify the reduction of actuation voltage as a result of applying three electrodes in RF MEMS. The new switch structure emphasizes three parallel electrodes instead of two electrodes as in previous structure. In the design stage all performance factors include beam width, beam length, area and beam thickness have been optimized to ensure the best physical dimension of the switch. The investigation of the performance was carried out using Architect Coventorware. Preliminary results shows that the actuation voltage of the three parallel electrodes switch gives very significant reduction of actuation voltage which is approximately half compared to other topologies or standard structure using two parallel electrodes.