欧姆接触式RF MEMS开关设计与仿真

利用表面微加工工艺设计了一种双悬臂梁支撑的欧姆接触式MEMS开关,开关的材料为Au。通过对开关驱动电压的理论分析得出,悬臂梁的刚度越低,下拉电压就会越小;又因为刚度与悬臂梁厚度的三次方呈比例,所以,降低刚度最有效的办法就是减少梁的厚度。通过对开关的性能仿真发现:开关的闭合电压为44V;触点的接触力为22.45μN;谐振频率为25.5kHz。开关闭合时,触点接触后并非立即稳定,而是要弹跳数次后才趋于稳定,此现象增加了开关从闭合到稳定的时间。驱动电压为50,60 V时开关的弹跳时间分别为174.94,66.84μs,由此可见,通过适当增加电压可有效降低开关时间和由闭合到稳定的时间。     

RF MEMS悬臂梁开关的设计与仿真

利用有限元软件HFSS和ANSYS系统研究了串联MEMS开关的微波性能和力学性能与其结构参数之间的关系,并在此基础上优化出悬臂梁开关的几何结构参数,设计了RF MEMS开关,实验表明：在外施电压为10V左右时,悬臂梁的挠度可达3μm左右,5GHz时,回波损耗小于0．2dB,隔离度大于35dB。     

串联电容式RF MEMS开关设计与制造研究

介绍了一种串联电容式RF MEMS开关的设计与制造。所设计的串联电容式RF MEMS开关利用薄膜淀积中产生的内应力使MEMS桥膜向上发生翘曲,从而提高所设计的开关的隔离度,克服了串联电容式RF MEMS开关通常只有在1GHz以下才能获得较高隔离度的缺点。其工艺与并联电容式RF MEMS开关完全相同,解决了并联电容式RF MEMS开关不能应用于低频段(<10GHz)的问题。其插入损耗为-0.88dB@3GHz,在6GHz以上,插入损耗为-0.5dB;隔离度为-33.5dB@900MHz、-24dB@3GH和-20dB@5GHz,适合于3~5GHz频段的应用。     

宽带直接接触式RF MEMS开关

本文提出一种静电驱动直接接触式宽带MEMS开关,包含CPW传输线、双U型金属悬臂梁、触点和锚区,兼顾了开关接触可靠、克服微结构粘连和低驱动电压三大结构可靠性设计因素。本开关为三端口开关,使用低温表面微机械工艺,制作在400μm厚的高阻硅衬底上,芯片尺寸0.8mm×0.9mm。样品在片测试结果表明,在6GHz频点,开关本征损耗0.1dB,隔离度24.8dB,等效开关接触电阻0.6Ω,关态电容6.4fF,开关时间47μs,开关驱动电压为20-60V。     

低驱动电压k波段电容耦合式RFMEMS开关的设计

设计了一种低驱动电压的电容耦合式射频微机械(RF MEMS)开关.RF MEMS开关采用共面波导传输线,双电极驱动,悬空金属膜采用弹性折叠梁支撑.使用MEMS CAD软件CoventorWare、微波CAD软件HFSS,分别仿真了开关的力学性能和电磁性能,仿真结果表明:开关的驱动电压为2.5V,满足低驱动电压的设计目标;开关开态的插入损耗约为0.23 dB@20 GHz,关态的隔离度约为18.1 dB@20 GHz.最后给出了这种RF MEMS开关的微制造工艺.     

发展中的RF MEMS开关技术

从驱动方式和机械结构的角度介绍了不同的RF MEMS开关类型,分析了各类MEMS开关的性能及优缺点,分析了MEMS开关在制作和发展中面临的牺牲层技术、封装技术、可靠性问题等关键技术和问题,介绍了MEMS开关的发展现状及其在组件级和系统级的应用,以及对MEMS开关技术的展望。     

聚酰亚胺（PI）树脂在电容式RF MEMS开关制作中的应用

聚酰亚胺树脂(PI)因其良好的平面化特性、在氧气中易灰化、不完全固化易溶解于碱性显影液、在CHF3等离子气氛中有较强的抗蚀性等性质,在电容RF MEMS开关的制作过程中,应用它作为刻蚀保护层和牺牲层,不但可以使工艺过程得到简化,而且可以对开关的介质层尺寸、牺牲层厚度等图形参数起到很好的控制作用.     

RF MEMS开关在牺牲层工艺上的改进

通过对传统的RF MEMS开关采取在信号线上电镀桥墩、改进桥梁的形状以及在桥背面设计接触点的新颖方法,使得RF MEMS开关的下拉电压减小、开关时间缩短和可靠性提高.在工艺上,特别采用了对聚酰亚胺牺牲层进行全刻蚀和半刻蚀的改进加工流程来实现桥背面的接触点.测试结果表明:开关的下拉电压为28V,最低开关时间为0.8μs,开关寿命达7×105次,0～10GHz的插入损耗在0～0.5dB,隔离度为35～45dB.     

介质层充电对电容式RF MEMS 开关的影响

电容式RF MEMS开关介质层电荷累积被认为是导致开关失效的主要原因.基于电容式RF MEMS开关工作过程中电场强度的变化,分析讨论了累积电荷的来源,并推导出相应的计算公式.对于随机性较大的界面极化问题,根据理论计算公式,提出从工艺上减小极化现象发生的解决方案.在讨论影响介质层电荷注入各种因素及相互之间关系的基础上,建立了基于电荷累积的开关寿命预测模型.     

高介电常数介质RF MEMS开关的制作研究

介绍了一种电容式MEMS开关的制作工艺.所有的步骤都采用表面微加工工艺完成.其中,区别于常规采用的SixNy薄膜,笔者采用了高介电常数的Ba0.5Sr0.5TiO3(BST)铁电薄膜作为开关的介电层,使"开""关"状态电容比值大大提高,开关的插入损耗和隔离度性能得到提高.在制作工艺上,采用正胶作为牺牲层,并用发烟硝酸进行释放,获得了较好的效果.最终,制备了一种高性能的电容式MEMS开关.     

Design and simulation of a thermally actuated MEMS switch for microwave circuits

The design, modeling, and optimization of a novel, thermally actuated CMOS‐MEMS switch are presented in this article. This series capacitive MEMS switch solves the substrate loss and down‐state capacitance degradation problems commonly plaguing MEMS switches. The switch uses finger structure for capacitive coupling. The vertical bending characteristic of bimorph cantilever beams under different temperatures is utilized to turn the switch on and off. A set of electrical, mechanical, and thermal models is established, and cross‐domain electro‐thermo‐mechanical simulations are performed to optimize the design parameters of the switch. The fabrication of the switch is completely CMOS‐process compatible. The design is fabricated using the AMI 0.6 μm CMOS process and a maskless reactive‐ion etching process. The measured results show the insertion loss and isolation are 1.67 and 33 dB, respectively, at 5.4 GHz, and 0.36 and 23 dB at 10 GHz. The actuation voltage is 25 V and the power consumption is 480 mW. This switch has a vast number of applications in the RF/microwave field, such as configurable voltage control oscillators, filters, and configurable matching networks. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE, 2009.     

Design and modeling of a continuously variable piezoelectric RF MEMS switch

A structure for a piezoelectrically actuated capacitive RF MEMS switch that is continuously variable between the ON state and the OFF state has been proposed. The device is based on variable capacitance using a cantilever fixed at both ends that is actuated using a lead zirconate titanate thin film. Because the device is contactless, the reliability issues common in contact-type RF MEMS switches can be avoided. A comprehensive mathematical model has been developed in order to study the performance of the device, and allow for design optimization. Electrical measurements on test structures have been compared with the performance predicted by the model, and the results used to design a prototype RF MEMS switch. The model and simulations indicate the proposed switch structure can provide an insertion loss better than 0.7 dB and an isolation of more than 10 dB between 6 and 14 GHz with an actuation voltage of 22.4 V. The state of the device is continuously variable between the ON state and the OFF state, with a tunable range of capacitance of more than 15\(\times \).     

适用于RF MEMS能量耦合传输的高Q值电感

利用MEMS微电镀工艺技术制作了一种新型的适用于RF MEMS能量耦合传输的高Q值电感,采用ANSOFT公司的HFSS优化平面螺旋电感的结构。在具有高电阻率的玻璃衬底上溅射0.5μm的铜层作为下电极;PECVD淀积厚度为1μmSiO2作为中间介质层;在介质层上结合厚胶光刻技术电镀厚为22μm的铜作为电感线圈。这套电感制作工艺流程简单、易于与IC制备工艺集成。本文制备的微机械电感在微型植入系统中具有广阔的应用前景。测量结果表明:当工作频率在1GHz左右时,微电感的电感值达到55nH,Q值最大可达到25。     

Design and process considerations for fabricating RF MEMS switches on printed circuit boards

Design considerations and process development for fabricating radio frequency microelectromechanical systems (RF MEMS) switches on microwave laminate printed circuit boards (PCBs) are presented in details in this work. Two key processes, high-density inductively coupled plasma chemical vapor deposition (HDICP CVD) for low-temperature silicon nitride deposition, and compressive molding planarization (COMP) have been developed for fabricating RF MEMS switches on PCB. The effects of process conditions of HDICP CVD on low-temperature nitride film are fully characterized for its use in RF MEMS switches on PCB. Not only can COMP planarize the surface of the photoresist for lithographic patterning over topologically complex surfaces, but also simultaneously create a membrane relief pattern on the surface of a MEMS structure. Several membrane-type capacitive switches have been fabricated showing excellent RF performance and dynamic responses similar to those on semiconductor substrates. This technology promises the potential of enabling further monolithic integration of switches with other RF components, such as antennas, microwave monolithic integrated circuits (MMICs), phase shifters, tunable filters, and transmission lines on the same PCBs reducing the losses due to impedance mismatching from components/system assembly and simplifies the design of the whole RF system. [1416].     

Reduction of squeeze-film damping in a wafer-level encapsulated RF MEMS DC shunt switch

This paper presents the design, fabrication and characterization aspects of a wafer-level encapsulated RF MEMS shunt switch with a perforated base substrate and a corrugated diaphragm. A three-wafer stacking concept was proposed to achieve a RF MEMS shunt switch based on metal-metal contact. The introduction of damping holes in the base substrate wafer is proven to be an effective way to reduce squeeze-film damping and thus increase the switching speed of the switch. It is also demonstrated by analytical calculation that some factors play important roles on the damping characteristics, such as the physical location of damping holes in the base substrate, hole size, and number of holes per radius ring. By means of the implementation of damping holes, the pull-in and release time of the fabricated MEMS switch are significantly reduced by about 13 times, from 5.4 ms to 0.435 ms and 40.6 ms to 3.2 ms, respectively.     

Membrane microcantilever arrays fabrication with PZT thin films for nanorange movement

Lead zirconate titanate (PZT) piezoelectric thin films have been prepared by sol-gel method to fabricate microcantilever arrays for nano-actuation with potential applications in the hard disk drives. In order to solve the silicon over-etching problem, which leads to a low production yield in the microcantilever fabrication process, a new fabrication process using DRIE etching of silicon from the front side of the silicon wafer has been developed. Silicon free membrane microcantilevers with PZT thin films of 1 μm in thickness have been successfully fabricated with almost 100% yield by this new process. Annealing temperature and time are critical to the preparation of the sol-gel PZT thin film. The fabrication process of microcantilever arrays in planar structure will be presented. Key issues on the fabrication of the cantilever are the compatible etching process of PZT thin film and the compensation of thin film stress in all layers to obtain a flat multi-layer structure.     

The SiOG-based single-crystalline silicon (SCS) RF MEMS switch with uniform characteristics

This paper details single-crystalline silicon (SCS) direct contact radio frequency microelectromechanical systems (RF MEMS) switch designed and fabricated using an SiOG (silicon-on-glass) substrate, so as to obtain higher fabrication and performance uniformity compared with a conventional metal switch. The mechanical and electrical performances of the fabricated silicon switch have been tested. In comparison with a conventional metallic MEMS switch, we can obtain higher productivity and uniformity by using SCS, because it has very low stresses and superior thermal characteristics as a structural material of the switch. Also, by using the SiOG substrate instead of an SOI substrate, fabrication cost can be significantly reduced. The proposed switch is fabricated on a coplanar waveguide (CPW) and actuated by electrostatic force. The designed chip size is 1.05 mm/spl times/0.72 mm. Measured pull-in voltage and actuation voltage were 19 V and 26 V, respectively. Eighteen identical switches taken randomly throughout the wafer showed average and standard deviation of the measured pull-in voltage of 19.1 and 1.5 V, respectively. The RF characteristics of the fabricated switch from dc to 30 GHz have been measured. The isolation and insertion loss measured on the four identical samples were -38 to -39 dB and -0.18 to -0.2 dB at 2 GHz, respectively. Forming damping holes on the upper electrode leads to a relatively fast switching speed. Measured ON and OFF time were 25 and 13 /spl mu/s, respectively. In the switch OFF state, self-actuation does not happen up to the input power of 34 dBm. The measured holding power of the fabricated switch was 31 dBm. Stiction problem was not observed after 10/sup 8/ cycles of repeated actuation, but the contact resistance varied about 0.5-1 /spl Omega/ from the initial value.     

Low temperature epoxy bonding for RF MEMS capacitive switch

Packaging is one of the most critical tasks for MEMS devices. Unlike solid state devices, MEMS structures involves moving structures which needs to be protected from outer environment ensuring free movement of the structure. In the present paper, inverted silicon cavity is used for capping the MEMS devices. However, in case of RF MEMS, silicon cavity would add parasitics and affects its electrical performance. Enclosing the MEMS structure, its mechanical response will also alter. The electrical as well as mechanical characteristics of the RF MEMS switch are analyzed using finite element method simulations. The electrical response of the fabricated switch after packaging is compared with unpackaged device.