Reliability of RF MEMS Capacitive Switches and Distributed MEMS Phase Shifters using AlN Dielectric

Fernández-Bolaños, Montserrat; Tsamados, Dimitrios; Dainesi, P.; Ionescu, Adrian M.

doi:10.1109/memsys.2009.4805463

Cited by 17 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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Section: A) Classificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…All of them have demonstrated to achieve very low insertion losses (,0.2 dB at 40 GHz) and high isolation (.30 dB) with an elevated capacitance ratio (Cr . 30) and acceptable switching time (3-20 ms) at a relatively low actuation voltage (,30 V) for billions of cycles [6,7,12,13].…”

Section: B) State Of the Artmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Analog MEMS capacitors can be used for signal routing purposes, in reconfigurable front-ends, digitized capacitor banks, and reconfigurable antenna orientation or apertures. In order to achieve high isolation, many different configurations have been reported based on shunt and series switches [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8], low spring constant anchoring [3], inductive behavior [8], and/or using high dielectric constant materials [4,6,7].On the other hand, the digital MEMS capacitor is generally used as part of tunable systems or reconfigurable networks, for example filters, phase shifters, or impedance matching with two known capacitive states. The concept of the digital capacitor was first introduced by Hayden and Rebeiz [9] and is defined as the standard MEMS capacitive switch in series with a fixed small capacitance possibly realized with metalinsulator-metal (MIM) capacitor [10], metal-air-metal (MAM) capacitor [11], or interdigitated capacitors.…”

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RF-MEMS switches with AlN dielectric and their applications

Badia

Nicole²,

Ionescu

2011

Int. J. Microw. Wireless Technol.

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This paper reports on the potential of RF-MEMS technology based on aluminum nitride capacitive dielectric and nickelsuspended membranes to provide RF circuit functions in reconfigurable front-end radios. The RF performance of capacitive switches, distributed MEMS transmission lines (DMTLs) phase shifters for beam steering and tunable filters, including center frequency and bandwidth tuning of bandpass and band-stop filters are presented. Detailed characterization based on S-parameter data demonstrates very promising figures of merit of all fabricated demonstrators from 5 to 40 GHz.Keywords: RF MEMS switch, phase shifter, tunable filter, modelling, simulation and characterization of devices and systems I . I N T R O D U C T I O NIn the last half-century, RF-MEMS switches have been extensively studied as they accomplish superior RF performance and higher linearity than semiconductor junction switches such as Positive-Intrinsic-Negative (PIN) diodes or Fieldeffect transistor (FETs) [1]. Despite their higher control voltages compared to some solid-state switches, electrostatic-actuated Micro-electro-mechanical-systems (MEMS) offer significant power savings as well as potential lower cost and the capability of miniaturization which result in attractiveness for their use in wireless applications.In reconfigurable front-end RF ICs, functions like RF switching, filtering, and phase shifting in reflector array antennas for beam steering/forming networks (as illustrated in Fig. 1), can be realized with RF-MEMS components and systems using the same technology in a single fabrication process. RF MEMS offer new possibilities for improved performance and allow higher density and capacity of the overall systems.In this paper we present capacitive shunt switches in terms of performance as well as their applications as phase shifters and tunable filters. In Section II, the state of the art of capacitive switches is studied and compared with different fabricated switch designs including those based on analog and digital capacitor concepts and switches with highly inductive components that were specifically designed as core devices for the applications presented in the subsequent sections. Then, in Section III analog and 2-bit digital true time delay (TTD) phase shifters are described as well as the co-integration of phase shifters and the dipole antennas for beam steering applications. Finally, tunable filters with different functionalities, as bandpass and band-stop filter configurations are shown in Section IV. I I . R F -M E M S C A P A C I T I V E S W I T C H › S W I T C H I N G A) ClassificationCapacitive switches are mainly divided into two subcategories depending on their different functionalities; the RF-MEMS capacitive switch or analog MEMS capacitor, with high isolation and an increased capacitance ratio, Cr (.30) and the MEMS switch capacitor or digital MEMS capacitor with a moderate and usually defined Cr , 5. Analog MEMS capacitors can be used for signal routing purposes, in reconfigurable front-ends, digitized capa...

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Section: A) Classificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: B) State Of the Artmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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RF-MEMS switches with AlN dielectric and their applications

Badia

Nicole²,

Ionescu

2011

Int. J. Microw. Wireless Technol.

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“…Πολλά διηλεκτρικά υλικά έχουν χρησιμοποιηθεί και μελετηθεί, όπως οξείδια (SiO2, Al2O3, Ta2O5 κ.τ.λ.) [33], [34] και νιτρίδια (Si3N4 και AlN) [21], [22], [23], [24], [35], [36], ανάμεσα στα οποία ιδιαίτερη έμφαση έχει δοθεί στη μελέτη των SiO2 και Si3N4, που αποτελούν και τα πιο διαδεδομένα διηλεκτρικά υλικά στον τομέα της μικροηλεκτρονικής. Η κατανόηση των μηχανισμών φόρτισης και εκφόρτισης των διηλεκτρικών υμενίων καθώς επίσης και η γνώση της επίδρασής τους στα λειτουργικά χαρακτηριστικά ενός διακόπτη RF MEMS θα δώσει λύση στο βασικότερο πρόβλημα αξιοπιστίας των διατάξεων αυτών.…”

Section: εισαγωγήunclassified

“…Βασική παράμετρος για την επιλογή του διηλεκτρικού υμενίου που θα χρησιμοποιηθεί αποτελεί επίσης και η όσο το δυνατόν μικρότερη πόλωση του διηλεκτρικού κάτω από την επίδραση του ισχυρού ηλεκτρικού πεδίου που επικρατεί κατά τη λειτουργία ενός διακόπτη RF MEMS. Πολλά υλικά έχουν χρησιμοποιηθεί και μελετηθεί [22], [23], [24], [35], [36], [60], [61], [62] αλλά η αναζήτηση του «ιδανικού» διηλεκτρικού για τους διακόπτες RF MEMS συνεχίζεται έως σήμερα. Σχήμα 2.7: Η τιμή της σχετικής διηλεκτρικής σταθεράς των συνηθέστερων διηλεκτρικών που χρησιμοποιούνται στις διατάξεις RF MEMS [63], [64], [65], [66].…”

Section: διηλεκτρικά υλικά στους διακόπτες Rf Memsunclassified