A Transient Spice Model for Dielectric-Charging Effects in RF Mems Capacitive Switches (Preprint)

Abstract

A transient SPICE model for dielectric-charging effects in RF MEMS capacitive switches was developed and implemented in a popular microwave circuit simulator. In this implementation the dielectric-charging effects are represented by RC sub-circuits with the sub-circuit parameters extracted from directly measured charging and discharging currents in the pA range. The resulted model was used to simulate the actuation-voltage shift in RF MEMS capacitive switches due to repeated operation and charging of the switch dielectric. 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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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 01, 2006
Accession Number
ADA456017

Entities

People

  • Charles L. Goldsmith
  • David I. Forehand
  • James C. M. Hwang
  • Xiaobin Yuan

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Communities of Interest

  • Advanced Electronics

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Agreements
  • Air Force
  • Air Force Research Laboratories
  • Charge Density
  • Detectors
  • Equivalent Circuits
  • Frequency
  • Government Procurement
  • Governments
  • Microelectromechanical Systems
  • Military Research
  • Simulations
  • Simulators
  • Square Waves
  • Steady State
  • Waveforms
  • Waves

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  • Integrated Circuit Design and Technology.
  • Plasma Physics.