Effect of Inertial Shock on RF MEMS Capacitive Switches Property in Low Vacuum

The influence of outside inertial shock combined with RF signal voltages on the properties of a shunt capacitive MEMS switch encapsulated in a low vacuum environment is analyzed considering the damping of the air around the MEMS switch membrane. An analytical expression that approximately computes the displacement induced by outside shock is obtained. According to the expression, the minimum required mechanical stiffness constant of an MEMS switch beam in some maximum tolerated insertion loss condition and some external inertial shock environment or the insertion loss induced by external inertial shock can also be obtained. The influence is also illustrated with an RF MEMS capacitive switch example,which shows that outside environment factors have to be taken into account when designing RF MEMS capacitive switches working in low vacuum. While encapsulating RF MEMS switches in low vacuum diminishes the air damping and improves the switch speed and operation voltage,the performances of a switch is incident to being influenced by outside environment. This study is very useful for the optimized design of RF MEMS capacitive switches working in low vacuum.

A novel low-loss four-bit bandpass filter using RF MEMS switches

This paper details the design and simulation of a novel low-loss four-bit reconfigurable bandpass filter that integrates microelectromechanical system(MEMS)switches and comb resonators.A T-shaped reconfigurable resonator is reconfigured in a'one resonator,multiple MEMS switches'configuration and used to gate the load capacitances of comb resonators so that a multiple-frequency filtering function is realized within the 7-16 GHz frequency range.In addition,the insertion loss of the filter is less than 1.99 dB,the out-of-band rejection is more than 18.30 dB,and the group delay is less than 0.25 ns.On the other hand,the size of this novel filter is only 4.4 mm×2.5 mm×0.4 mm.Our results indicate that this MEMS reconfigurable filter,which can switch 16 central frequency bands through eight switches,achieves a low insertion loss compared to those of traditional MEMS filters.In addition,the advantages of small size are obtained while achieving high integration.

DC—20GHz RF MEMS Switch

The design and fabrication of a RF MEMS switch is reported for the first time in China.The switching element consists of a thin metallic membrane,which has the metal-isolator-metal contact and a capacitive shunt switch as single-pole single-throw.When an electrostatic potential is applied to the membrane and the bottom electrode,the attractive electrostatic force pulls the metal membrane down onto the bottom dielectric.The switch characteristics,such as insertion loss and isolation,depend on the off and on-capacitance.The test results are as follows:the pulldown voltage is about 20V;the insertion loss is less than 0 69dB from DC to 20GHz in the up-state;the isolation is more than 13dB from 14 to 18GHz and 16dB from 18 to 20GHz in the down-state.

Thermal Effects and RF Power Handling of DC～5GHz MEMS Switch

A DC to 5GHz series MEMS switch is designed and fabricated for wireless communication applications,and thermal effect and power handling of the series switch are discussed.The switch is made on glass substrate,and gold platinum contact is used to get a stable and little insert loss.From DC to 5GHz,0 6dB insertion loss,30dB isolation,and 30μs delay are demonstrated.Thermal effect of the switch is tested in 85℃ and -55℃ atmosphere separately.From DC to 4GHz,the insert loss of the switch increases 0 2dB in 85℃ and 0 4dB in -55℃,while the isolation holds the same value as that in room temperature.To measure the power handling capability of the switch,we applied a continuous RF power increasing from 10dBm to 35 1dBm with the step of 1 0dBm across the switch at 4GHz.The switch keeps working and shows a decrease of the insert loss for 0 1～0 6dB.The maximum continuous power handling (35 1dBm,about 3 24W) is higer than the reported value of shunt switch (about 420mW),which implies series switches have much better power handling capability.

RF MEMS Switch on Poly-Silicon Substrate

The improvements of the design and the compatibility with silicon IC of RF MEMS switch are presented.The compatibility with silicon IC is realized by dielectric isolation technology,and the decrease of the pull voltage of the switch is done by etching some holes on the metal membrane.The preliminary test results are as follows: C off and C on are 0 32pF,6pF,respectively;the pull down voltage is about 25V.The package of the RF MEMS switch is done by micro stripline,and the isolation and the insertion loss are 35dB,2dB,respectively at 1 5GHz;the switching speed is about 3μs by oscilloscope.

A 0.5–3.0 GHz SP4T RF switch with improved body self-biasing technique in 130-nm SOI CMOS

A single-pole four-throw(SP4T)RF switch with charge-pump-based controller is designed and implemented in a commercial 130-nm silicon-on-insulator(SOI)CMOS process.An improved body self-biasing technique based on diodes is utilized to simplify the controlling circuitry and improve the linearity.A multistack field-effect-transistor(FET)structure with body floating technique is employed to provide good power-handling capability.The proposed design demonstrates a measured input 0.1-d B compression point of 38.5 d Bm at 1.9 GHz,an insertion loss of 0.27 d B/0.33 d B and an isolation of 35 d B/27 d B at 900 MHz/1.9 GHz,respectively.The overall chip area is only 0.49 mm^2.This RF switch can be used in GSM/WCDMA/LTE frontend modules.

Sensitivity analysis of pull-in voltage for RF MEMS switch based on modified couple stress theory

An approximate analytical model for calculating the pull-in voltage of a stepped cantilever-type radio frequency （RF） micro electro-mechanical system （MEMS） switch is developed based on the Euler-Bernoulli beam and a modified couple stress theory, and is validated by comparison with the finite element results. The sensitivity functions of the pull-in voltage to the designed parameters are derived based on the proposed model. The sensitivity investigation shows that the pull-in voltage sensitivities increase/decrease nonlinearly with the increases in the designed parameters. For the stepped cantilever beam, there exists a nonzero optimal dimensionless length ratio, where the pull-in voltage is insensitive. The optimal value of the dimensionless length ratio only depends on the dimensionless width ratio, and can be obtained by solving a nonlinear equation. The determination of the designed parameters is discussed, and some recommendations are made for the RF MEMS switch optimization.

ANALYSIS AND MEASUREMENT OF LARGE DYNAMIC RANGE RF SWITCH INTER-MODULATION

Radio Frequency (RF) switch circuit is the basic part of microwave devices and systems. The non-linearity distortion figure is necessary in the field of large dynamic range of signal. This letter analyzes the basic switch circuit and its inter-modulation, and studies in detail the measurement methods and systems of RF switch intercept point. It has provided cascaded simulation testing methods, which can accurately measure the PF switch, of which the second or third order intercept point value is above 75dB and 60dB, respectively. As the testing results are consistent with the theoretical analyses, it proves that the validity of the method satisfies the requirements of large scaled linearity measurement in engineering.

Fabrication of a novel RF switch device with high performance using In0.4Ga0.6As MOSFET technology

A novel radio frequency （RF） switch device has been successfully fabricated using InGaAs metal- oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor （MOSFET） technology. The device showed drain saturation currents of 250 mA/mm, a maximum transconductance of 370 mS/ram, a turn-on resistance of 0.72 mx2.mm2 and a drain current on-off （Ionloll） ratio of 1 x 106. The maximum handling power of on-state of 533 mW/mm and off-state of 3667 mW/mm is obtained. The proposed In0.4Ga0.6As MOSFET RF switch showed an insertion loss of less than 1.8 dB and an isolation of better than 20 dB in the frequency range from 0.1 to 7.5 GHz. The lowest insertion loss and the highest isolation can reach 0.27 dB and more than 68 dB respectively. This study demonstrates that the InGaAs MOSFET technology has a great potential for RF switch application.

15158A SP6T RF switch based on IBM SOI CMOS technology

This paper presents the design of single-pole six-throw （SP6T） RF switch with IBM 0.18 #m SOI CMOS technology, which can be widely used in a wireless communication system with its high performance and low cost. The circuit is designed and simulated by using an idea that the total load is divided into six branches and SOI special structures. The insertion loss is less than 0.6 dB, isolation is more than 30 dB, the input power P0.1dB for 0.1 dB compression point is more than 37.5 dBm, IIP3 is more than 70 dBm, the 2nd and the 3rd harmonic compressions are more than 96 dBc, and the control voltage is （＋2.46 V, 0, -2.46 V） in the frequency from 0.1 to 2.7 GHz.

A Novel Multi-Modal OAM Vortex Electromagnetic Wave Microstrip Array Antenna

In this paper,we combine the circular polarization technology and orbital angular momentum(OAM)into the array antenna design for the first time,achieve free switch of the different topological charges in the array by using high-speed radio frequency(RF)switch technology.We arrange microstrip patch antenna elements equidistantly along the circumference to form eight elements multi-modal OAM vortex electromagnetic wave microstrip array antenna.It can generate elec-tromagnetic waves with dual characteristics of circular polarization and multi-modal vortex OAM(where OAM mode values are l=0,l=±1,l=±2,l=±3).Through simulation,we find mutual coupling between the radiating elements is small relatively,and increasing the number of array elements can not only improve the beam quality,but also generate electromagnetic waves with a higher order of OAM modes.Antenna model can meet the basic demands of ordinary array antenna,and also confirm the practicality of this circular polarized microstrip antenna array model.