Temperature Acceleration of Dielectric Charging in RF MEMS Capacitive Switches

Yuan, Xiaobin; Peng, Zhen; Hwang, Ji Hyeon; Forehand, David; Goldsmith, C. Franklin

doi:10.1109/mwsym.2006.249923

Cited by 33 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…The switches showed no changes in mechanical stability during or after testing at cryogenic temperatures. The increased pull-in voltage for fixed-fixed capacitive switches at cryogenic reported in [6]- [12] was not observed at 77 K for the cantilever-type switches used for experimentation. In addition, the hysteresis in pull-in voltage reported in [11] after temperature cycling was not present.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 91%

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Cryogenic Performance of RF MEMS Switch Contacts

Brown

Morris²,

Kingon

et al. 2008

J. Microelectromech. Syst.

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Abstract-A series of experiments was performed to characterize RF microelectromechanical system switch performance under variable environmental conditions and cryogenic temperatures. Data were recorded in helium and nitrogen environments to lower stiction failure rates as well as to circumvent switch bouncing arising from low pressure at cryogenic temperatures. Contact resistance values were observed to be lower at cryogenic temperatures but still two orders of magnitude higher than the values predicted for the constriction resistance of gold asperity contacts, consistent with the presence of adsorbed films on the contacts. An asperity-heating model was applied, from which it was deduced that contact voltages can selectively disassociate adsorbed films from the contact surface while not softening the gold asperity contacts. The results are consistent with the reduced mobility of the adsorbed surface films at cryogenic temperatures.[

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 91%

“…Cryogenic temperatures have adverse effects on the operational stability and longevity of capacitive MEMS switches. The pull-in voltage substantially increases, and capacitance decreases with decreasing temperature [6]- [12]. An increased mortality rate for switches operating at cryogenic temperatures has also been reported [9].…”

mentioning

confidence: 91%

Cryogenic Performance of RF MEMS Switch Contacts

Brown

Morris²,

Kingon

et al. 2008

J. Microelectromech. Syst.

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“…In fact, Q J is of the order of 10 11 q/cm 2 , while the trap density is typically of the order of 10 13 q/cm 2 ; τ CJ and τ DJ are of the order of seconds while trap capture and emission times are typically of the order of milliseconds. A recent study [20] also shows that Q J increases with temperature while τ CJ and τ DJ are independent of temperature, which are not characteristic of a typical trap density and capture/emission times. Similar to the thermionic-emission-diffusion process across a Schottky barrier [22], charge injection into a dielectric is a rather complicated phenomenon.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 87%

“…For extremely long on times (e.g., 500 s), the traps are all charged to their steady-state values before the off time starts so that ∆t OFF = exp(−t ON /τ C ) = 0, and (20) and (21) become the same. In addition, if there is only one set of charging and discharging time constants, (22) and (23) are essentially the same, and so are (20) and (21). However, when a more complicated control waveform is involved in the analysis, the calculation routine using the equation-based model is not as straight forward as the square-wave case.…”

Section: B Square-wave Actuationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…With repeated operation, charge gradually builds up in the dielectric, which modifies the electrostatic force on the movable membrane resulting in an actuation-voltage shift [6]. Dielectric-charging effects in RF MEMS have been studied by different research groups [5]- [20] with a qualitative charging model proposed [10]. In comparison, we have proposed an equation-based quantitative charging model to predict charge injection and actuation-voltage shift under dc stress conditions [13].…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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A transient SPICE model for dielectric-charging effects in RF MEMS capacitive switches

Yuan

Peng

Hwang

et al. 2006

IEEE Trans. Electron Devices

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Abstract-A transient simulation program with integrated circuit emphasis (SPICE) model for dielectric-charging effects in RF microelectromechanical system (MEMS) capacitive switches was developed and implemented in a popular microwave circuit simulator. In this implementation, the dielectric-charging effects are represented by R-C subcircuits with the subcircuit parameters extracted from directly measured charging and discharging currents in the picoampere range. The resulted model was used to simulate the actuation-voltage shift in switches due to repeated operation and dielectric charging. Agreement was obtained between the simulated and measured actuation-voltage shift under various control waveforms. For RF MEMS capacitive switches that fail mainly due to dielectric charging, the present SPICE model can be used to design control waveforms that can either prolong lifetime or accelerate failure.

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RF MEMS Switches and Integrated Switching Circuits

Liu

2010

MEMS Reference Shelf

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Abstract-Radio frequency (RF) microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) have been pursued for more than a decade as a solution of high-performance on-chip fixed, tunable and reconfigurable circuits. This paper reviews our research work on RF MEMS switches and switching circuits in the past five years. The research work first concentrates on the development of lateral DC-contact switches and capacitive shunt switches. Low insertion loss, high isolation and wide frequency band have been achieved for the two types of switches; then the switches have been integrated with transmission lines to achieve different switching circuits, such as single-pole-multi-throw (SPMT) switching circuits, tunable band-pass filter, tunable band-stop filter and reconfigurable filter circuits. Substrate transfer process and surface planarization process are used to fabricate the above mentioned devices and circuits. The advantages of these two fabrication processes provide great flexibility in developing different types of RF MEMS switches and circuits. The ultimate target is to produce more powerful and sophisticated wireless appliances operating in handsets, base stations, and satellites with low power consumption and cost.

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Temperature Acceleration of Dielectric Charging in RF MEMS Capacitive Switches

Cited by 33 publications

References 7 publications

Cryogenic Performance of RF MEMS Switch Contacts

Cryogenic Performance of RF MEMS Switch Contacts

A transient SPICE model for dielectric-charging effects in RF MEMS capacitive switches

RF MEMS Switches and Integrated Switching Circuits

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