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Presentation is About...
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
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-toground 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.
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 metalto-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 fixedfixed 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
Electrostatic modelling
Consider the two plates as a capacitor, we get the following equation for force.
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.
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.
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.