Effect of temperature on capacitive RF MEMS switch performance—a coupled-field analysis

Three-dimensional multiphysics finite element analysis (FEA) was performed to investigate the reliability of RF MEMS switches at various operational temperatures. The investigated MEMS capacitive switch consists of a freestanding metal membrane actuated by a bottom electrode coated by a dielectric film. Coupled-field simulations between thermal, structural and electrostatic domains were performed. The simulations show that temperature significantly changes both the membrane stress state and outof-plane geometry. In particular, the membrane buckles when temperature increase, from room temperature, takes place. The buckling temperature, i.e. the upper bound to the operational temperature, is a function of manufacturing residual stress state, membrane initial out-of-plane profile and a mismatch in materials coefficient of thermal expansion. The analysis also shows that temperature reduction, from room temperature to −40 ◦C, causes an increase in pull-in voltage to values that could compromise the switch reliability as a result of charge build-up in the dielectric layer. Our analyses illustrate that by proper designing of the membrane out-of-plane profile, it is possible to keep the pull-in voltage, at all operational temperatures, within allowable values. This design feature of RF MEMS switches offers an effective way to achieve reliable pull-in voltages in applications where large temperature variations are expected such as in satellites and airplane condition monitoring based on wireless communication. (Some figures in this article are in colour only in the electronic version)