In this paper, we propose the design of an ohmic contact RF microswitch with low voltage actuation, where the upper and lower microplates are displaceable. We develop a mathematical model for the RF microswitch made up of two electrostatically actuated microplates; each microplate is attached to the end of a microcantilever. We assume that the microbeams are flexible and that the microplates are rigid. The electrostatic force applied between the two microplates is a nonlinear function of the displacements and applied voltage. We formulate and solve the static and eigenvalue problems associated with the proposed microsystem. We also examine the dynamic behavior of the microswitch by calculating the limitcycle solutions. We discretize the equations of motion by considering the first few dominant modes in the microsystem dynamics. We show that only two modes are sufficient to accurately simulate the response of the H. Samaali ( ) · S. Choura · M. Masmoudi

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