In this paper, RF MEMS Capacitive Switches for two different dielectrics hafnium oxide (HfO2) and silicon nitride (Si3N4) are presented. The switches have been characterized and compared in terms of RF performance. The major impact of the change from Si3N4 to HfO2 having dielectric constant 20 is the reduction in overall dimension of the switch; capacitive area is reduced by 66% leading to over...

-Micro Electro Mechanical Systems will soon usher in a new technological renaissance. Just as ICs brought the pocket calculator, PC, and video games, MEMS will provide a new set of products and markets. Learn about the state of the art, from inertial sensors to microfluidic devices[1]. Over the last few years, considerable effort has gone into the study of the failure mechanisms and reliability...

This paper presents the design, fabrication and characterization of an RF MEMS switch. Low actuation voltage and high isolation of the switch were achieved by exploiting buckling and bending effects induced by well-controlled residual stress. The effects of residual stress on improving the switch performance have been investigated using both analytical and numerical methods. The proposed RF swi...

Resonators serve as essential components in radio-frequency (RF) electronics, forming the backbone of filters and tuned amplifiers. However, traditional solid state or mechanic implementations of resonators and filters tend to be bulky and power hungry, limiting the versatility of communications, guidance, and avionics systems. Microelectro-mechanical systems (MEMS) are promising replacements f...

In this paper, four reconfigurable antennas are presented for multi-mode multi-band (MMMB) communication systems. Each antenna is able to reconfigure diverse operational frequency bands or beam directions depending on the states of embedded switches, which are implemented using pin diodes or RF-microelectro-mechanical system (RF-MEMS) switches.

This work presents a micromachined RF-CMOS transformer fabricated in a commercially available 0.18μm CMOS process. Maskless micromachining post-processing is used to remove oxide and substrate material from around the transformer, reducing parasitic effects and improving the performance of the transformer. Index Terms — baluns, CMOS integrated circuits; MEMS, maskless micromachining, Q enhancem...

Abstract—The present paper describes an integrated approach for design, fabrication and encapsulation of RF MEMS switches in view of the optimal performance subsequent to packaging. ‘Top and bottom contact’ fabrication approaches are explored using different RF MEMS switch topologies. In the ‘bottom contact package (BCP)’ the packaging cap alignment is less critical as compared to the top conta...

This paper introduces our recent activities in R&D Center of Excellence for Integrated Microsystems toward new integrated MEMS. The most prominent difference of the new integrated MEMS from conventional ones is that MEMS is fabricated on advanced LSI with a very small design rule. Two examples of integrated MEMS technologies under development are described. The first one is singlecrystal-silico...

Charge accumulation in dielectrics solicited by an applied voltage, and the associated temperature and time dependencies are well known in scientific literature since a number of years [1]. The potential utilization of materials being part of a device useful for space applications is a serious issue because of the harsh environmental conditions and the necessity of long term predictions about a...