3-state, high contact and release force RF MEMS switch designed based on MetalMUMPs process

Abstract

This paper demonstrates a novel three-state high contact and release force RF MEMS switch dedicated for ultra-low loss and high isolation applications. The configuration of the switch is DC-contact series switch integrated into a microstrip transmission line. The switch is composed of three actuators at which two of them are electrostatic actuators and one of them is a μelectro-thermal actuator. The 1 ^st and 2 ^nd electrostatic actuators are to drive the switch to ON and Deep-OFF states and the μelectro-thermal actuator is used to strongly break micro-welding in switch tip and drive the switch to OFF state. The device is designed based on the MetalMUMPs fabrication process rules. The required voltage for 1 ^st and 2 ^nd actuators is 30 V and μelectro-thermal actuator require an actuation voltage of 0.3 V. Thanks to using electro-static actuators for ON and Deep-OFF states of the switch, the DC power consumption of the device in near zero. When the switch is OFF, the isolation is better than −20 dB for frequencies lower than 20 GHz. At the ON state, the insertion loss and return loss of the switch are −0.7 and −18 dB, respectively up to 20 GHz. The isolation of the switch reach −48 dB up to 20 GHz when the switch goes to Deep-OFF state. The presented switch in this paper can be a promising choice for the applications where low loss, high isolation and low power consumption is sought after.