Title :
An improved design for parallel plate MEMS variable capacitors
Author :
Bakri-Kassem, Maher ; Mansour, Raafat R.
Author_Institution :
Waterloo Univ., Canada
Abstract :
A MEMS variable capacitor having additional carrier beams is proposed. The use of the carrier beams increases the capacitor´s tuning range and prevents the top plate from collapsing at a tuning range of 50%. The tuning range was measured and found to be 410% at 1 GHz with a maximum DC bias voltage of 9.2 volt. The achievable tuning range exceeds that of the traditional parallel plate MEMS variable capacitors. The proposed MEMS variable capacitor is built using the PolyMUMPs process.
Keywords :
UHF devices; micromechanical devices; varactors; 1 GHz; 9.2 V; DC bias voltage; capacitor tuning range; carrier beams; microelectromechanical systems; parallel plate MEMS variable capacitor design; polyMUMPs process.; Capacitors; Electrodes; Electrostatics; Etching; Gold; Iron; Micromechanical devices; Steady-state; Testing; Voltage;
Conference_Titel :
Microwave Symposium Digest, 2004 IEEE MTT-S International
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-8331-1
DOI :
10.1109/MWSYM.2004.1339106
