Long Life MEM Switch Technology
Abstract
Report developed under contract FA8718-04-C-0029. Microelectromechanical (MEM) switches have already been developed that demonstrate exceptional RF performance but have been plagued by poor reliability. In this work, two new MEM switches were developed with the goal of increasing reliability. The first is a miniature switched capacitor that is 150-300 times smaller than typical RF MEMS switches. The bridges on these switches are 21 micrometers long by 8 micrometers wide and have a switching time of less than 250 ns. Reliability of over 20 billion cycles of 0.5 W of RF power at 13 GHz was demonstrated. The second design is a switched capacitor that is a cantilever type of device. The switch showed a Q of more than 250 at X to Ku-band frequencies, and a reliability of more than 11 billion cycles at 1 W of RF power at 8 GHz. Finally, a tunable filter covering 5.1 and 5.7 GHz (two states) was designed, fabricated and tested. The loss was 1.4dB, the bandwidth was 5%, and the tunable Q was over 150. These novel designs will be very useful for high reliability RF MEM switches and circuits in the coming years for commercial and defense applications.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 23, 2006
- Accession Number
- ADA450563
Entities
People
- Gabriel M. Rebeiz
Organizations
- University of Michigan