Stress Suppression Design for Radiofrequency Microelectromechanical System Switch Based on a Flexible Substrate
Kang Wang,
Zhaoer Chai,
Yutang Pan,
Chuyuan Gao,
Yaxin Xu,
Jiawei Ren,
Jie Wang,
Fei Zhao,
Ming Qin,
Lei Han
Affiliations
Kang Wang
Key Laboratory of MEMS of the Ministry of Education, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China
Zhaoer Chai
National Engineering Research Center of Communication Software and Asic Design, China Electronics Technology Group Corporation 54th Research Institute, Shijiazhuang 050081, China
Yutang Pan
Key Laboratory of MEMS of the Ministry of Education, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China
Chuyuan Gao
Key Laboratory of MEMS of the Ministry of Education, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China
Yaxin Xu
National Engineering Research Center of Communication Software and Asic Design, China Electronics Technology Group Corporation 54th Research Institute, Shijiazhuang 050081, China
Jiawei Ren
National Engineering Research Center of Communication Software and Asic Design, China Electronics Technology Group Corporation 54th Research Institute, Shijiazhuang 050081, China
Jie Wang
National Engineering Research Center of Communication Software and Asic Design, China Electronics Technology Group Corporation 54th Research Institute, Shijiazhuang 050081, China
Fei Zhao
National Engineering Research Center of Communication Software and Asic Design, China Electronics Technology Group Corporation 54th Research Institute, Shijiazhuang 050081, China
Ming Qin
Key Laboratory of MEMS of the Ministry of Education, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China
Lei Han
Key Laboratory of MEMS of the Ministry of Education, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China
A novel stress suppression design for flexible RF MEMS switches has been presented and demonstrated through theoretical and experimental research to isolate the stress caused by substrate bending. An RF MEMS switch with an S-shaped microspring structure was fabricated by the two-step etching process as a developmental step toward miniaturization and high reliability. The RF MEMS switches with an S-shaped microspring exhibited superior microwave performance and stable driving voltage under different substrate curvatures compared to the conventional non-microspring switches, demonstrating that the bending stress is successfully suppressed by the S-shaped microspring and the island structure. Furthermore, this innovative design could be easily extended to other flexible devices.
