Micro electromechanical 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.
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-electro-mechanical 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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