Design and Development of a Package Using LCP for RF/Microwave MEMS Switches

Author

Chen, Morgan Jikang ; Pham, Anh-Vu H. ; Evers, Nicole Andrea ; Kapusta, Chris ; Iannotti, Joseph ; Kornrumpf, William ; Maciel, John J. ; Karabudak, Nafiz

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., California Univ., Davis, CA

Volume

54

Issue

11

fYear

2006

Firstpage

4009

Lastpage

4015

Abstract

We present the development of an ultrahigh moisture-resistant enclosure for RF microelectromechanical system (MEMS) switches using liquid-crystal polymer (LCP). A cavity formed in LCP has been laminated, at low temperature, onto a silicon MEMS switch to create a package. The LCP-cap package has an insertion loss of less than 0.2 dB at X-band. E595 outgas tests demonstrate that the LCP material is suitable for constructing reliable packages without interfering with the operation of the MEMS switch. The package also passes Method 1014, MIL-STD-883 gross leak, and fine leak hermeticity tests

Keywords

electronics packaging; liquid crystal polymers; micromechanical devices; microwave devices; LCP; MEMS switches; MIL-STD-883 gross leak; Method 1014; RF microelectromechanical system; X-band; chip-on-flex; electronics package; fine leak hermeticity test; liquid-crystal polymer; moisture-resistant enclosure; Insertion loss; Liquid crystal polymers; Micromechanical devices; Microswitches; Packaging; Radio frequency; Radiofrequency microelectromechanical systems; Silicon; Switches; Temperature; Cavities; chip-on-flex; liquid-crystal polymer (LCP); microelectromechanical system (MEMS); microwave; packaging;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Microwave Theory and Techniques, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9480

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TMTT.2006.884639

Filename

1717772