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INTRODUCTION
Compound solid state switches such as GaAs MESFETs and PIN diodes are widely used in microwave and millimeter wave integrated circuits (MMICs) for telecommunications applications including signal routing, impedance matching networks, and adjustable gain amplifiers. However, these solid-state switches have a large insertion loss (typically 1 dB) in the on state and poor electrical isolation in the off state. The recent developments of micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) have been continuously providing new and improved paradigms in the field of microwave applications. Different configured micromachined miniature switches have been reported. Among these switches, capacitive membrane microwave switching devices present lower insertion loss, higher isolation, better nonlinearity and zero static power consumption. In this presentation, we describe the design, fabrication and performance of a surface micromachined capacitive microwave switch on glass substrate using electroplating techniques.
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RF MEMS TECHNOLOGY
Basically RF MEMS switches are of two configurations-: RF series contact switch RF shunt capacitive switch Currently, both series and shunt RF MEMS switch configurations are under development, the most common being series contact switches and capacitive shunt switches.
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Unbiased - OFF
RF line
RF line
Biased - ON
Contact shunt Anchor
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capacitance to pF levels, reducing the impedance of the path through the beam for high frequency (RF) signal and shorting the RF to ground. Therefore, opposite to the operation of the series contact switch, the beam in the up position corresponds to a low-loss RF path to the output load, while the beam in the down position results in RF shunted to ground and no RF signal at the output load . While the shunt configuration allows hot-switching and gives better linearity, lower insertion loss than the MEMS series contact switch, the frequency dependence of the capacitive reactance restricts high quality performance to high RF signal frequencies (5-100 GHz), whereas the contact switch can be used from dc levels.
101seminartopics.com
101seminartopics.com
The switch is built on coplanar waveguide (CPW) transmission lines, which have an impedance of 50 that matches the impedance of the system. The width of the transmission line is 160 m and the gap between the ground line and signal line is 30 m. The insertion loss is dominated by the resistive loss of the signal line and the coupling between the signal line and the membrane when the membrane is in the up position. To minimize the resistive loss, a thick layer of metal needs be used to build the transmission line. The thicker metal layer results in a bigger gap that reduces the coupling between signal and ground yet also requires higher voltage to actuate the switch. To achieve a reasonable actuation voltage, a 4-m-thick copper is used as the transmission line. The glass wafer is chosen for the RF switch over a semi-conductive silicon substrate since typical silicon wafer is too lossy for RF signal. When the membrane is in the down position, the electrical isolation of the switch mainly depends on the capacitive coupling between the signal line and ground lines. The dielectric layer plays a key role for the electrical isolation. The smaller the thickness and the smoother the surface of the dielectric layer, the better isolation of the switch is. But there is another trade-off here. When the membrane is pulled down, the biased voltage is directly applied across the dielectric layer. Since this layer is very thin, the electric field within the dielectric layer is very high. The thickness of the dielectric layer should be chosen such that the electric field will never exceed the breakdown electric field of the dielectric material. The silicon nitride film has breakdown electric field as high as several mega-volts per centimeter and can be utilized as dc block dielectric layer. In this project, the thickness of the silicon nitride layer is chosen as 0.2 m to accomplish the dc block and RF coupling purpose.
FABRICATION
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The switches were fabricated by surface micro-machining techniques with a total of four masking level. No critical overlay alignment was required. Fig. shows the essential process steps: 1. Ti/Cu seed layer deposition: The starting substrate was a 2-inch glass wafer. A layer of titanium (0.05 m) and copper (0.15m) was sputtered on the substrate as seed layer for electroplating. 2. Silicon nitride deposition: A layer of siliconnitride (0.2m) was deposited and patterned as DC block by using PECVD and reactive ion etch (RIE). 3. Copper electroplating: A photoresist layer was spin coated and patterned to define the electroplatingarea. Then, a 4-m-thick copper layer was electroplated to define the coplanar waveguide and the posts for the membranes. 4. Aluminum deposition: A layer of aluminum (0.4m) was deposited by using electron beam evaporation and patterned to form the top electrode in the actuation capacitor structure. 5. Release: The photoresist sacrificial layer was removed to finalize the switch structure.
101seminartopics.com
101seminartopics.com
position, the switch is called in off-state. When the switch is actuated and the membrane is pulled down, the switch is called in on-state. The major characteristics of the switch are the insertion loss when the signals pass through and the isolation when signals are rejected. In the off-state the RF signal passes underneath the membrane without much loss. In the onstate, between the central signal line and coplanar waveguide grounds exists a low impedance path through the bended membrane. The RF signal will be reflected by the switch. The resonant frequency of 23.4 GHz was observed when the membrane was in the down position. This means that the switch can be equivalently modeled as a capacitor, inductor and resistor connected in series between the signal and ground lines. Since the switch has a better isolation around the resonant frequency, it can be designed such that the desired frequency overlaps with the resonant frequency by adjusting the geometry of the switch. The actuation voltage of the MEMS switch is about 50V. The spring constant of the membrane and the distance between the membrane and the bottom electrode determines the actuation voltage of the switch. The spring constant of the membrane is mainly determined by the membrane material properties, the membrane geometry, and the residual stress in the membrane.
101seminartopics.com
only high-cost, military- or space-grade traditional packaging methods as appropriate for high reliability assurance. Expensive packaging precludes the large-scale production needed for extensive reliability testing and the low risk statistics for widespread commercial sales. Beyond the design and production phases, reliability concerns can be introduced in post-production (such as release stiction fails) and, most importantly, in packaging. Several factors must be considered before choosing a package for RF MEMS switches. First and foremost, RF MEMS performance will quickly degrade in the presence of contaminants and humidity. Therefore, the initial package criterion is hermeticity. A traditional approach would involve dicing the wafer, releasing the device, attaching the substrate to the package base, and attaching the lid with a hermetic seal, incorporating baking and vacuum conditions as necessary to ensure no outgassing after seal. With the many options available for microelectronics packaging, a suitable hermetic package can be found that minimizes thermal-mismatch induced stresses and provides low-loss RF electrical connections. Although it is possible to successfully package MEMS RF switches in this manner, it is impractical for two reasons: its prohibitively expensive for large-scale production and manipulating released devices is tedious. In response to these difficulties, the current trend is toward wafer-level packaging, which reduces cost and mitigates the structural fragility by bonding the package around the released switch in the production phase, before dicing and subsequent handling. Wafer-level packaging for RF MEMS is a topic of intense study. Work is currently underway to find a suitable bonding method that provides adequate hermetic seal without outgassing contaminants into the body of the package or thermally damaging the delicate MEMS structures.
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Available Vendors
Significant manufacturing hurdles have the following repercussions for spacecraft systems MEMS technology insertion. First, there are few available vendors and limited in-stock product. Second, and most importantly, much reliability testing remains to be completed and what has been done isnt widely available due to commercial proprietary concerns. For space flight applications, this means that if one can find switches to purchase, the knowledge of their physics of failure and, consequently, the ability to predict what conditions may trigger them, is severely compromised. In-house performance characterization and reliability testing, and the resulting database of MEMS RF switch failure mechanisms, will enable accelerated MEMS technology insertion.
101seminartopics.com
101seminartopics.com
image charges in the bridge metallization and increases the holding force of the bridge to a value above its spring restoring force. There are several actions that can be taken to mitigate dielectric charging in the design phase, including choosing better dielectric material and designing peripheral pull-down electrodes to decouple the actuation from the dielectric behavior at the contact. Unlike series contact switches, capacitive shunt switches do not experience hard failures at RF power levels > 100 mW, as long as the bridge contact metallization is thick enough to handle the high current densities. However, RF power may be limited in some cases by a recoverable failure, self-actuation. While not yet fully understood, it has been observed that a capacitive shunt switch will self-actuate at 4W of RF power (cold-switching failure) and experience latch-up (stuck in down position) in hot-switching mode at 500 mW. Even though these failures are recoverable the switch operates normally if the RF power is decreased below the latch-up value of 500 mW they still illustrate a lifetime consideration for high power applications.
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Power Handling
As outlined above, reliable operation of RF MEMS switches at power levels above 500 mW cannot be guaranteed at this time. Capacitive shunt switches experience recoverable failures at this level, while series contact switches may permanently fail in the short circuit configuration if hot switched above 100 mW. Hot-switching series contact switches at any power is not recommended. Thermal dissipation precautions in packaging are unnecessary, as RF MEMS do not generate sufficient thermal energy.
101seminartopics.com
101seminartopics.com
band and causes adjacent channel power violations (jamming) as well as signal to noise problems. The other strong driving mechanism for pursuing new RF technologies is the fundamental degradation of insertion loss and isolation at signal frequencies above 1-2 GHz. By utilizing electromechanical architecture on a miniature- (or micro-) scale, MEMS RF switches combine the advantages of traditional electromechanical switches (low insertion loss, high isolation, extremely high linearity) with those of solid-state switches (low power consumption, low mass, long lifetime). shows a comparison of MEMS, PIN-diode and FET switch parameters. While improvements in insertion loss (<0.2 dB), isolation (>40 dB), linearity (third order intercept point>66 dBm), and frequency bandwidth (dc 40 GHz) are remarkable, RF MEMS switches are slower and have lower power handling capabilities. All of these advantages, together with the potential for high reliability long lifetime operation make RF MEMS switches a promising solution to existing low-power RF technology limitations.
PARAMETER Voltage Current (mA) Power Consumption (mW) Switching Cup (series) (fF) Rs (series) () Capacitance Ratio Cutoff Freq. (THz) Isolation (1 10 GHz) Isolation (10 40 GHz) Isolation (60 10 GHz) Loss (1 100 GHz) (dB) Power Handling (W) 3rd order Int. (dBm)
RF MEMS 20 80 0 0.5 1 1 300 s 16 0.5 2 40 500 20 80 Very high Very high High 0.05 0.2 <1 +66 80
PIN-DIODE 35 0 20 5 100 1 100 ns 40 80 24 10 14 High Medium Medium 0.3 1.2 <10 +27 45
FET 35 0 -.5 0.1 1 100 ns 70 140 46 n/a 0.5 2 Medium Low None 0.4 2.5 <10 +27 - 45
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CONCLUSION
Low power consumption ,low insertion loss,high isolation,excellent
linearty and the ability to be integrated with other electronics all make MEMS switches an attractive alternative to mechanical and solid state switches.these switches will have applications in phase antenna arrays ,in MEMS impedance matching networks,and in communications applications.
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REFERENCES
1. S.Majumdar,J.lampen,R.Morrison,andJ.Maciel,MEMS instrumentation and measurement magazine,march 2003. 2. Gabriel M.Rebeiz,Hoboken,NJ,John Wiley &sons,RF MEMS THEORY,DESIGN &TECHNOLOGY,January 2003. 3. Gopinath,A and Ranklin.JB,IEEE Transaction on electronic development ,GaAs FET RF switches ,VOL ED-32. 4. Cavery.R.H,`DISTORTION OF OFF-STATE ARSENIDE MESFET SWITCHES,IEEE Transaction,VOL.41,NO.8,august 1993. SWITCHES,IEE
101seminartopics.com
CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION 2. RF MEMS TECHNOLOGY 3. RF SERIES CONTACT SWITCH 4. RF SHUNT CAPACITIVE SWITCH 5. SWITCH DESIGN AND OPERATIONS 6. FABRICATION 7. TEST RESULT AND DISCUSSIONS 8. PRODUCTION AND MANUFACTURING ISSUES 9. GENERAL RELIABILITY CONCERNS 10. COMPARISON OF MEMS SWITCHES WITH SOLID-STATE SWITCHES 11. CONCLUSION 12. REFERENCES
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I extend my sincere gratitude towards Prof . P.Sukumaran Head of Department for giving us his invaluable knowledge and wonderful technical guidance
I express my thanks to Mr. Muhammed kutty our group tutor and also to our staff advisor Ms. Biji Paul for their kind co-operation and guidance for preparing and presenting this seminar.
I also thank all the other faculty members of AEI department and my friends for their help and support.
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ABSTRACT
Microelectromechanical system (MEMS) micro switches are receiving increasing attention ,particularly in the RF community. Low power consumption, low insertion loss, high isolation,excellent linearity, and the ability to be integrated with other electronic circuits all make micro switches an attractive alternative to other mechanical and solid state switches. MEMS switches can be used in a variety of RF applications, including cell phones, phase shifters, and smart antennas ,as well as in lower frequency applications, such as automatic test equipment and industrial and medical instrumentation. MEMS switches combine the advantages of traditional electromechanical switches with those of solid state switches.