Material Selection of Rf-mems Switch Used for Reconfigurable Antenna Using Ashby’s Methodology

This paper reports material selection methodology for radio frequency — micro electro mechanical systems (RF-MEMS) switches used for reconfigurable antennas. As there are variety of materials available to design engineer, a proper technique to select the best possible material is needed. Three primary performance indices, pull-in voltage, RF-loss, and thermal residual stress, are used to obtain the desired performance. The selection chart shows that aluminum is the most suitable material for being used as bridge material in RFMEMS switches to provide the best performance in reconfigurable antenna.