Development of an all-metal large contact force reliable RF-MEMS relay for space applications

Author

Blondy, Pierre ; Pothier, Arnaud ; Stefanini, Romain ; Gauvin, J. ; Passerieux, Damien ; Vendier, Olivier ; Courtade, F.

Author_Institution

XLIM, Univ. de Limoges, Limoges, France

fYear

2012

fDate

Oct. 29 2012-Nov. 1 2012

Firstpage

184

Lastpage

185

Abstract

This paper presents the development of and RF-MEMS relay for space applications. The integration of a large force electrostatic actuator has permitted dramatic improvement of the switch fabrication yield and reliability. The device does not suffer from well-known RF-MEMS issues such as drift in control voltage, temperature sensitivity. The device could be held in the down state for several days, at 70°C, without significant changes in the static characteristics and several devices have been successfully cycled up to 50 million cycles, with stable contact resistance.

Keywords

electrostatic actuators; microactuators; microswitches; relays; reliability; space vehicle electronics; RF-MEMS switches; all-metal large contact force reliable RF-MEMS relay; control voltage; large force electrostatic actuator; reliability; space applications; stable contact resistance; switch fabrication yield; temperature 70 degC; temperature sensitivity; Contacts; Force; Loss measurement; Microwave circuits; Relays; Reliability; Switches; RF-MEMS; relays; switches;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Microwave Conference (EuMC), 2012 42nd European

Conference_Location

Amsterdam

Print_ISBN

978-1-4673-2215-7

Electronic_ISBN

978-2-87487-026-2

Type

conf

Filename

6459332