An overview of RF

MEMS switches

By Sarjak Shah and Sakina Fakhruddin

(2010AAA4091H) (2010A3PS220H)
Presentation is About...

SEM Group of CSIR-CEERI

RF MEMS Switches

Work so far..

Future focus
SEM Group and its Activities
Head- Dr. Kamaljit Rangra
Members:
1. Mr. Deepak Bansal
2. Ms. K. Maninder
3. Mr. Akshdeep Sharma
4. Ms. Prachi Jhanwar
5. Ms. Shilpi Pandey
6. Mr. Sumit Khandelwal
7. Ms. Priyanka Dwivedi
8. Mr. Mahesh Angira
9. Mr. Kushagra
Projects being pursued..

Design of Symmetric Toggle Switches

MEMS Switches Configurations
MEMS Filters
Packaging of devices designed
Study of switch structure
Digital Mirror Devices
Issues to be addressed

Size of capacitive switches

Designing of SPDT and Phase shifters

Liability issues in ohmic contact switches

Combination of both types on same board

What is MEMS?
MEMS is an abbreviation of microelectromechanical
system.
Components vary from 1 micrometre to maximum
of 1 mm.
Micro establishes the dimensional scale, Electro
suggests either electricity or electronics or both and
Mechanical implies moving device components.
Originated from R P Feyman's hypothesis on
miniaturization of devices.
RF Switches
Designed to operate at RF-to-millimeter-wave frequencies
(0.1 to 100 GHz).
Key role in the development of the modern communications
systems (wireless and satellite).
Considering RF system, simple wire replaced by coaxial and
microstrip lines.
More complicated devises that introduce resistance,
capacitance and inductance in signal-to-signal and signal-to-
ground paths.
Different switch technologies for various frequency-bands of
application.
In wireless communication, currently SPNT switches are being
used.
Advantages of RF switches
Near-Zero Power Consumption: high actuation voltage
(20 to 80V) but low current consumption.

Very High Isolation: low off-state capacitances (2-4 fF)

resulting in excellent isolation at 0.1-40 GHz.

Very Low Insertion Loss: about -0.1dB upto 40 GHz.

Intermodulation Products: MEMS are linear devices.

Applications of RF switches
Transmit/Receive (T/R) RF switches: get fully integrated with
other circuits and operate over very wide bandwidths, DPST
used in radar and satellite communication, must be highly
linear.
Programmable RF attenuators: reduce the level of the signal
and provide impedance matching.
Phase shifters: produce a replica of the signal applied to its
input, but with a modified phase done through routing the
signal.
Capacitive switches
Thin layer of
dielectric material
separates two
conducting
electrodes.
No direct metal-
to-metal contact.

Bandwidth is limited by the capacitance ratio between the ON

and OFF states and generally the RF signal range for capacitive
RF MEMS switches is 4GHz-120 GHz.
Ohmic switches
Conductive beam suspended over a break in the transmission
line.

Non-contact part of the beam is used for switch actuation and

can be configured as a single fixed end cantilever or a fixed-
fixed cantilever.
he signal range for ohmic switches is DC to 40 GHz.
Switch configurations

Parallel
configuration

Series
configuration
Specifications of RF Switches

Insertion loss( S11 )

Isolation( S21 )
Switching speed
Power handling
Bandwidth
Actuation voltage
Resonant frequency
Design considerations of
switch (cantilever type)
Mechanical modelling
 Electrostatic modelling
Consider the two plates as a capacitor, we get the
following equation for force.

Comparing with the mechanical model equation, we get

 Fringing capacitance

Till now whatever equations were discussed had the assumption

that the dimensions of plate are much larger than the gap, but in
case of MEMS switches the gap is comparable to the dimension of
the plate. So fringing capacitance does play a major role and has
to be considered.
 Perforation

The RF-MEMS switches, especially those with wide

cantilever designs, use small diameter holes (210 m) in
the beam to speed up the release etch while allowing easier
sacrificial layer removal. These holes also reduce the
stiffness of the cantilever as well as the squeeze film
damping increasing the switching speed of the MEMS
switch.
RF switches reliability issues
Contamination: Contact resistance increases due to organic
deposits, absorbed hydrocarbon layers and contamination
around the contact area. Can be avoided by proper material
selection.
Stiction: Arises when the surface interaction energy at a
contact point is greater than the restoring force which tends
to bring the switch into the equilibrium/open position. In
such a case the RF MEMS switch will stick in the closed
position. At high current conditions, stiction will generally be
generated by hot-welding. Can be avoided by using stiff
elements.
Reliability issues continued..
Wear: The contact may be damaged by a large impact force which
can be much greater than the high static contact force needed for
low contact resistance.
Cycling mode: In cold switching contact damage, pitting, and
hardening of the metal occur since the same point is repeatedly hit
during cycling. In the long term the contact area is reduced,
increasing the contact resistance. In hot switching, metal arcs are
produced at contact melting the asperities thereby increasing the
area.
Dielectric charging : Trapping of charge due to asperities on the
metal surface, non-stoichiometric defects on the dielectric surface
and bulk polarization.
Our Work

Analysis of a switch configuration,

determining the switch parameters and
suggest some improvements in the
design.

Study of asperities and inclusion of

roughness on a contact surface based on
an AFM image in either ANSYS or
COMSOL.
REFERENCES
K. J. Rangra, Electrostatic Low Actuation Voltage RF MEMS
Switches for Telecommunications, PhD Thesis, University of Trento,
Italy 2005.
G. M. Rabeiz, RF MEMS switches and Switch Circuits, IEEE
Microwave magazine, December 2001.
G. M. Rebeiz, RF MEMS Theory, Design and Technology, Wiley
Publications, Canada, 2003.
Michail N. Spasos, RF MEMS switch for reconfigurable antennas,
PhD thesis, School of Engineering and Design, Brunel University, July
2011.
Minhang Bao, Analysis and Design Principles of MEMS Devices,
Department of Electronic Engineering, Fudan University, China,
Elsevier 2005.