Design and simulation of RF MEMS switches with the supporting columns

Abstract

This paper introduces the principle of RF MEMS switch and performs modeling analysis. By analyzing the low control voltage and microwave power of the switch, phenomena such as long response time and susceptibility to mechanical failure appear. Therefore, this paper analyzes the current research on RF MEMS switches, improves the internal structure of the switch by adding support columns, fixes the double ends of the beam, and increases the spring coefficient K to slow down the falling speed of the internal cantilever of the switch. The impact force between the cantilever and the dielectric layer is reduced, which greatly reduces the loss of the switch and the problems of mechanical fatigue failure, thus improving the service life of the switch. The simulation shows that the stability of the model is relatively high when the length of the cantilever is 300 um. After adding a 0.7 um support column at a distance of 25 um from the dielectric layer, the turn-on voltage is increased from 42.5 V to 61 V, and the switching capacitance remains unchanged. Finally, by calculating the percentage error between the simulation value and the model theory of 1.6%, the validity and accuracy of the model are checked.

Keywords

• RF MEMS switch
• Support columns
• Mechanical fatigue failure