Fully integrated electrothermal multidomain modeling of RF MEMS switches

Author

Jensen, Brian D. ; Saitou, Kazuhiro ; Volakis, John L. ; Kurabayashi, Katsuo

Author_Institution

Michigan Univ., Ann Arbor, MI, USA

Volume

13

Issue

9

fYear

2003

Firstpage

364

Lastpage

366

Abstract

RF MEMS switches have demonstrated excellent performance. However, before such switches can be fully implemented, they must demonstrate high reliability and robust power-handling capability. Numerical simulation is a vital part of design to meet these goals. This paper demonstrates a fully integrated electrothermal model of an RF MEMS switch which solves for RF current and switch temperature. The results show that the beam temperature increases with either higher input power or increased frequency. The simulation data are used to predict switch failure due to temperature-related creep and self pull-in over a wide range of operating frequency (0.1-40 GHz) and power input (0-10 W). Self pull-in is found to be the dominant failure mechanism for an example geometry.

Keywords

boundary integral equations; creep; failure analysis; finite element analysis; microstrip components; microswitches; microwave switches; reliability; 0 to 10 W; 0.1 to 40 GHz; RF MEMS switches; RF current; beam temperature; failure mechanism; finite element-boundary integral method; fully integrated electrothermal multidomain modeling; microstrip line implementation; numerical simulation; reliability; robust power-handling capability; self pull-in; simulation data; switch failure prediction; switch temperature; temperature-related creep; wide operating frequency range; wide power input range; Creep; Electrothermal effects; Numerical simulation; Predictive models; Radio frequency; Radiofrequency microelectromechanical systems; Robustness; Solid modeling; Switches; Temperature;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Microwave and Wireless Components Letters, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1531-1309

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/LMWC.2003.817121

Filename

1232547