Characterization of Contact Resistance Stability in MEM Relays With Tungsten Electrodes

Chen, Yenhao; Nathanael, Rhesa; Jeon, Jong-June; Yaung, Jack; Hutin, Louis; Liu, Tsu‐Jae King

doi:10.1109/jmems.2012.2186282

Cited by 45 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…Switches fail stuck closed when the adhesion force between the contacts exceeds the restoring force of the mechanical actuator, which can result from increased contact area resulting from damage to the contacts or from hot welding, melting of the two contacts to form a single piece of metal during a switching event [10], [13]- [22]. The second method of failure, failing due to high contact resistance, has been observed in both micro-and macroswitches [16], [23]- [29]. Early studies of this problem showed that, through visualization of Palladium contacts, "an amorphous brownish organic deposit" was found on and near the contacts [30].…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

RF MEMS Switches With $\hbox{RuO}_{2}$ –$\hbox{Au}$ Contacts Cycled to 10 Billion Cycles

Czaplewski

Nordquist

Patrizi

et al. 2013

J. Microelectromech. Syst.

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We present improvements in RF microelectromechanical switch design and fabrication that demonstrated improved lifetimes in cycled switches. First, implementation of RuO 2 -Au contact metallurgy into an existing design showed improved switch lifetime over switches with Pt-Au, Ir-Au, and Au-Au contacts. Second, the switch design was changed to reduce impact upon switch closure, and the fabrication process was changed to avoid the use of polymer sacrificial materials while including the RuO 2 -Au contact metallurgy. Switches with the new design were cycled to 10 billion cycles with a resistance less than 4 Ω, an insertion loss of 0.4 dB, and an isolation of 28.0 dB at 10 GHz. We propose that the catalytic behavior of the RuO 2 film prevents or delays the failure of the switches due to accumulation of carbon at the contacts. Additionally, the reduced impact upon closure prevented significant contact evolution during cycling.

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mentioning

confidence: 99%

RF MEMS Switches With $\hbox{RuO}_{2}$ –$\hbox{Au}$ Contacts Cycled to 10 Billion Cycles

Czaplewski

Nordquist

Patrizi

et al. 2013

J. Microelectromech. Syst.

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“…In the previous work, 25 we demonstrated that relays with Ru contacts can operate with sufficient on-state conductance for at least 10 8 cycles, under low vacuum conditions. Stability of contact adhesion is also critical for achieving highly reliable relay operation, since a large adhesive force can cause a relay to be stuck in the on state.…”

Section: W Admentioning

confidence: 82%

Reducing adhesion energy of micro-relay electrodes by ion beam synthesized oxide nanolayers

et al. 2017

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“…Operating (gate voltage) lower than 1 V has been enabled by applying a body bias voltage [48] with a turn-on delay below 1 µs. Reliability studies have shown that Rc remains below 10 kΩ under hot switching conditions for more than 10 8 cycles [49]. Circuits designed with such devices are expected to operate with at least one order of magnitude better energy efficiency than their CMOS counterparts, based on a benchmarking study of 32-bit adder performance at the 65 nm technology node [22,50].…”

Section: Other Relays Fabricated Using Cmos-compatible Processesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Graphite also shows good results with cycles with a low adhesive force (65 nN) and stable contact resistance. W and Pt have the lowest adhesive forces (<25 nN) but their contact resistances increase over time [49]. Contact oxidation in addition to high adhesion force (>100 nN) is also observed for Al, Ir, and Cu.…”

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confidence: 96%

Nanoelectromechanical Switches for Low-Power Digital Computing

Peschot¹,

Qian²,

Liu³

2015

Micromachines

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Abstract:The need for more energy-efficient solid-state switches beyond complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) transistors has become a major concern as the power consumption of electronic integrated circuits (ICs) steadily increases with technology scaling. Nano-Electro-Mechanical (NEM) relays control current flow by nanometer-scale motion to make or break physical contact between electrodes, and offer advantages over transistors for low-power digital logic applications: virtually zero leakage current for negligible static power consumption; the ability to operate with very small voltage signals for low dynamic power consumption; and robustness against harsh environments such as extreme temperatures. Therefore, NEM logic switches (relays) have been investigated by several research groups during the past decade. Circuit simulations calibrated to experimental data indicate that scaled relay technology can overcome the energy-efficiency limit of CMOS technology. This paper reviews recent progress toward this goal, providing an overview of the different relay designs and experimental results achieved by various research groups, as well as of relay-based IC design principles. Remaining challenges for realizing the promise of nano-mechanical computing, and ongoing efforts to address these, are discussed.

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Characterization of Contact Resistance Stability in MEM Relays With Tungsten Electrodes

Cited by 45 publications

References 11 publications

RF MEMS Switches With $\hbox{RuO}_{2}$ –$\hbox{Au}$ Contacts Cycled to 10 Billion Cycles

RF MEMS Switches With $\hbox{RuO}_{2}$ –$\hbox{Au}$ Contacts Cycled to 10 Billion Cycles

Reducing adhesion energy of micro-relay electrodes by ion beam synthesized oxide nanolayers

Nanoelectromechanical Switches for Low-Power Digital Computing

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