[1] Huang Jiwei, Wang Zhigong,. RF MEMS switches based on thermal actuator [J]. Journal of Southeast University (English Edition), 2007, 23 (4): 520-523. [doi:10.3969/j.issn.1003-7985.2007.04.009]

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RF MEMS switches based on thermal actuator()

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Journal of Southeast University (English Edition)[ISSN:1003-7985/CN:32-1325/N]

Volumn:

23

Issue:

2007 4

Page:

520-523

Research Field:

Circuit and System

Publishing date:

2007-12-30

Info

Title:

RF MEMS switches based on thermal actuator

Author(s):

Huang Jiwei;  Wang Zhigong

Institute of RF- & OE-ICs, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China

Keywords:

RF MEMS(radio frequency micro-electro-mechanical systems);  thermal actuator;  lateral contact;  isolation

PACS:

TN402

DOI:

10.3969/j.issn.1003-7985.2007.04.009

Abstract:

A new switching circuit is presented for the application in the frequency range of 0 to 8 GHz.This switch is electro-thermally actuated and exhibits high radio frequency(RF)performance due to its lateral contact mechanism.It composes of electroplated nickel and silicon nitride as structural materials.The isolation between bias and signal ports is realized by using silicon nitride.In the case of a small deformation, the relation between the displacement of the vertex and the pre-bending angle is analyzed.The metal contact is realized by in-plane motion and sidewall connection.The switches were fabricated using the MetalMUMPs process from MEMSCAP.The RF testing results show that the switch has a low insertion loss of 0.9 dB at 8 GHz and a high isolation of 30 dB below 8 GHz.

References:

[1] Larson L E, Hackett R H, Melendes M A, et al.Micromachined microwave actuator(MIMAC)technology—a new tuning approach for microwave integrated circuits [C]//IEEE Microwave and Millimeter-Wave Monolithic Circuits Symposium.Boston, MA, 1991:27-30.
[2] Que L, Park J-S, Gianchandani Y B, et al.Bent-beam electrothermal actuators—Part Ⅰ:single beam and cascaded devices [J].IEEE Microelectromechanical Systems, 2001, 10(2):247-262.
[3] Hyman D, Mehregany M.Contact physics of gold microcontacts for MEMS switches [J].IEEE Trans Components and Packaging Technology, 1999, 22(3):357-364.
[4] Girbau D, Lkaro A, Pradell L.RF MEMS switches based on the buckle-beam thermal actuator [C]//The 33rd European Microwave Conference.Munich, 2003:651-654.
[5] Wang Ye, Li Zhihong, McCormick D T, et al.Low-voltage lateral-contact microrelays for RF applications [C]//The Fifteenth IEEE International Conference on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems.Las Vegas, NV, USA, 2002:645-648.
[6] Kruglick E J J, Pister K S J.Lateral MEMS microcontact considerations [J].Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems, 1999, 8(3):264-271.
[7] Cowen Allen, Mahadevan Ramaswamy, Johnson Stafford, et al.MetalMUMPs’s design handbook.Revision 2.0.[R].MEMSCAP, 2002.
[8] Agrawal Vivek.A latching MEMS relay for DC and RF applications [C]//Proceedings of the 50th IEEE Holm Conference on Electrical Contacts.Seattle, WA, USA, 2004:222-225.

Memo

Memo:

Biographies: Huang Jiwei(1976—), male, graduate;Wang Zhigong(corresponding author), male, doctor, professor, zgwang@seu.edu.cn.

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