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On characterization of symmetric type capacitive RF MEMS switches

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Abstract

This paper presents the design, fabrication and characterization of capacitive type MEMS switch for space and terrestrial communication applications. The deviation in measured actuation voltage and RF response of the switches are discussed in terms of the process variation which occurred unintentionally during the fabrication of devices. For example the measured actuation voltage is 15 V, about 20% higher than the designed voltage of 12.25 V. The deviation corresponds to the increase in thickness of the membrane while electroplating. The impact of process parameters on mechanical resonance frequency of the switches, and on/off time is also discussed. Measured S-parameters shows isolation of > − 20 dB for 7–16 GHz and an insertion loss better than − 0.6 dB up to 20 GHz. The capacitance ratio of the fabricated switch is 77, which is 15% lower than the designed capacitance ratio. The switch has been tested for 1 million 65 thousand cycles without switching failure. The deviation of simulated and measured results is discussed in the following sections.

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Acknowledgements

Authors would like to acknowledge Director, CSIR-CEERI, Pilani, India for providing design and fabrication facilities. Also, we would like to thank SAC (ISRO), Ahmedabad, India (GAP-6503) for financial support and providing RF characterization facility.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-Central Electronics Engineering Research Institute (CSIR-CEERI), Pilani, Rajasthan, India

    K. Maninder, Deepak Bansal & K. J. Rangra

  2. ATDD, Space Application Center (ISRO), Ahmedabad, Gujrat, India

    Shilpi Soni

  3. Semiconductor Complex Limited (ISRO), Mohali, Punjab, India

    Surinder Singh

Authors
  1. K. Maninder
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  2. Deepak Bansal
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  3. Shilpi Soni
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  4. Surinder Singh
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  5. K. J. Rangra
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Correspondence to K. Maninder.

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Maninder, K., Bansal, D., Soni, S. et al. On characterization of symmetric type capacitive RF MEMS switches. Microsyst Technol 25, 729–734 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00542-018-4006-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00542-018-4006-z

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