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Electrothermally‐actuated RF‐MEMS suspended parallel switch
Author(s) -
Girbau David,
Pradell Lluís,
Lázaro Antonio,
Nebot Àlvar
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
microwave and optical technology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.304
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1098-2760
pISSN - 0895-2477
DOI - 10.1002/mop.22943
Subject(s) - microelectromechanical systems , return loss , resistive touchscreen , insertion loss , microwave , materials science , actuator , electrical engineering , optoelectronics , substrate (aquarium) , wireless , engineering , telecommunications , oceanography , antenna (radio) , geology
Abstract This article presents an electrothermally‐actuated lateral resistive‐contact RF‐MEMS parallel switch for application to low GHz wireless communication bands. The device is driven by a metal electrothermal actuator, which achieves large displacements and contact forces at much lower temperatures than conventional polysilicon electrothermal actuators. It was manufactured on a standard low‐resistivity substrate and its RF performance was improved by suspending the structures 25 μm from the substrate. Measured (at 1 GHz) insertion loss is −0.11 dB, return loss −41 dB, and isolation −22 dB. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 49: 2894–2896, 2007; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.22943