Quasi-Coaxial Vertical via Transitions for 3-D Packages Using Anodized Aluminum Substrates

This letter reports on the use of quasi-coaxial vertical via transitions fabricated with a selectively anodized aluminum substrate for 3-D packages to evaluate high frequency performances. The proposed method of fabricating quasi-coaxial vertical via transitions is easier and more cost-effective than other RF MEMS processes. Vertical interconnects with embedded anodized aluminum vias are first designed and fabricated. The optimized interconnect structure demonstrated RF characteristics with an insertion loss of less than 0.75 dB and a return loss of greater than 12.4 dB over a broad bandwidth ranging from 0.1 to 10 GHz. The experimental results suggest that the developed fabrication method, which is based on the use of a selectively anodized aluminum substrate, can be used in reasonable 3-D interconnect solutions.      

A low-loss single-pole six-throw switch based on compact RF MEMS switches

A low-loss single-pole six-throw (SP6T) switch using very compact metal-contact RF microelectromechanical system (MEMS) series switches is presented. The metal-contact MEMS switch has an extremely compact active area of 0.4 mm /spl times/ 0.3 mm, thus permitting the formation of an SP6T MEMS switch into the RF switch with a total area of 1 mm/sup 2/. The MEMS switch shows an effective spring constant of 746 N/m and an actuation time of 8.0 /spl mu/s. It has an isolation loss from -64.4 to -30.6dB and an insertion loss of 0.08-0.19 dB at 0.5-20 GHz. Furthermore, in order to evaluate RF performances of the SP6T MEMS switch, as well as those of the single-pole single-throw RF MEMS series switch, we have performed small-signal modeling based on a parameter-extraction method. Accurate agreement between the measured and modeled RF performances demonstrates the validity of the small-signal model. The SP6T switch performed well with an isolation loss from -62.4 to -39.1dB and an insertion loss of 0.19-0.70 dB from dc to 6 GHz between the input port and each output port.     

A 25–75-MHz RF MEMS Tunable Filter

This paper presents a state-of-the-art discrete RF microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) tunable filter designed for 25-75-MHz operation. This paper also presents an enhanced model of the RF MEMS switch, which is used for accurate prediction of the tunable filter response. The two-pole lumped-element filter is based on digital capacitor banks with on-chip metal-contact RF MEMS switches and lumped inductors, and results in a tuning range of 3:1 with fine frequency resolution, and a return loss better than 13 dB for the entire tuning range. The relative bandwidth of the filter is 4 plusmn 1% over the tuning range and the insertion loss is 3-5 dB, limited mostly by the inductor Q and the switch loss. The IIP₃ measurements prove that tunable filters with metal-contact series RF MEMS switches show extremely linear behavior (IIP₃ > 68 dBm).     

Inline capacitive and DC-contact MEMS shunt switches

This paper presents inline capacitive MEMS shunt switches suitable for X/K-band and Ka/V-band applications. The inline switch allows for a low- or high-inductance connection to the ground plane without changing the mechanical characteristics of the MEMS bridge. Excellent isolation and loss are achieved with this design, and the performance is very similar to the standard capacitive MEMS shunt switch. Also, a new metal-to-metal contact MEMS shunt switch is presented. A novel pull-down electrode is used which applies the electrostatic force at the same location as the metal-to-metal contact area. A contact resistance of 0.15-0.35 Ω is repeatable, and results in an isolation of -40 dB at 0.1-3 GHz. The measured isolation is still better than -20 dB at 40 GHz. The application areas are in high-isolation/low-loss switches for telecommunication and radar systems     

The package integration of RF-MEMS switch and control IC for wireless applications

The integration of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) switch and control integrated circuit (IC) in a single package was developed for use in next-generation portable wireless systems. This packaged radio-frequency (RF) MEMS switch exhibits an insertion loss under -0.4 dB, and isolation greater than -45 dB. This MEMS switch technology has significantly better RF characteristics than conventional PIN diodes or field effect transistor (FET) switches and consumes less power. The RF MEMS switch chip has been integrated with a high voltage charge pump plus control logic chips into a single package to accommodate the low voltage requirements in portable wireless applications. This paper discusses the package assembly process and critical parameters for integration of MEMS devices and bi-complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) control integrated circuit (IC) into a single package.     

一种雪花型MEMS单刀五掷开关的研究与设计

针对MEMS单刀多掷(SPMT)开关插入损耗及隔离度较差的问题,设计了一种基于雪花型功分器的单刀五掷(SP5T)MEMS开关,通过雪花型功分器实现信号的均衡分配和低损耗传输.通过设计H形上电极结构,有效减小开关弱接触,增强开关接触稳定性,实现信号的高隔离.采用HFSS仿真软件,对开关的插入损耗、隔离、驱动电压和应力分布...     

RF MEMS开关工艺技术研究

RFMEMS开关是用MEMS技术形成的新型电路元件,与传统的半导体开关器件相比具有插入损耗低、隔离度大等优点,将对现有雷达和通信中RF结构产生重大影响。文章介绍了RFMEMS开关的基本工艺流程设计,工艺制作技术的研究。实验解决了种子层技术、聚酰亚胺牺牲层技术、微电镀技术的工艺难题,制作出了RFMEMS开关样品,基本掌握了RFMEMS器件的制作工艺技术。RFMEMS开关样品测试的技术指标为:膜桥高度2μm～3μm、驱动电压<30V、频率范围0～40GHz、插入损耗≤1dB、隔离度≥20dB,样品参数性能达到了设计要求。     

一种双波段MEMS低噪声放大器设计

本文利用一种MEMS电容式开关并联实现双波段2．1GHz／4．6GHz微机械低噪声放大器。根据MEMS电容开关的电容特性,实现LNA电路匹配阻抗的变化、在不同的波段实现谐振匹配,从而实现双波段分别放大的功能。首先提出一种电容式开关的设计,理论、仿真分析了开关的特性,开关在2．21GHz和4．8GHz具有良好的插入损耗和隔离度、插损为2．2dB左右,隔离度达到30dB以上。其次将开关引入于基于Casoode放大管的LNA电路中、和CMOS电路具有很好的兼容性,设计了LNA的电路模型和仿真分析、分析结果表明,在频率为2．21GHz时、增益达到11．4dB,4．8GHz时、增益达12．5dB,二波段隔离度在30dB以上、噪声在4．1dB左右,该研究方法和设计克服了普通双波段LNA需要两路单独电路的缺点,该器件可应用在Wimax,WiFi等3．5G、4G无移动通信网络中。     

Fabrication and accelerated hermeticity testing of an on-wafer package for RF MEMS

A hermetic silicon micromachined on-wafer dc-to-40-GHz packaging scheme for RF microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) switches is presented. The designed on-wafer package has a deembedded insertion loss of 0.03 dB per transition up to 40 GHz (a total measured loss of 0.3 dB including a 2.7-mm-long through line) and a return loss below -18dB up to 40 GHz. The hermeticity of the packaged is tested using an autoclave chamber with accelerated conditions of 130/spl deg/C, 2.7 atm of pressure, and 100% relative humidity. The fabrication process is designed so as to be completely compatible with the MEMS switch process, hence, allowing the parallel fabrication of all the components on a single wafer. The on-wafer proposed packaging approach requires no external wiring to achieve signal propagation and, thus, it has the potential for lower loss and better performance at higher frequencies.     

砷化镓基毫米波MEMS开关表面工艺研究

研究了砷化镓基毫米波MEMS开关的表面工艺方法,包括MEMS开关的工艺流程中的牺牲层技术、结构层技术、触点技术、薄膜电阻技术。重点阐述了以光敏聚酰亚胺作牺牲层和以电镀金作结构层的工艺制作方法。形成了砷化镓RF MEMS开关表面工艺流程,制作出了RF MEMS开关样品。开关驱动电压为60 V,35 GHz时的插入损耗<0.2 dB,隔离度>18 dB。     

A Novel Integrated Multistage 2-D MEMS Optical Switch With Spanke–Benes Architecture

Due to the emergence of high-capacity wavelength-division multiplexing transmission systems, new optical cross-connect (OXC) architectures that make a large number of fiber/wavelength counts to switch the signal in the optical domain are needed. Optical microelectromechanical system (MEMS) switches are regarded as the most promising optical switch technology to achieve such functionalities. In this paper, we propose a novel integrated multistage two-dimensional (2-D) MEMS optical switch design with Spanke-Benes architecture and compare it with the conventional crossbar architecture, the L-switching architecture, and Shuffle-Benes architecture. Our proposed architecture is very suitable for building large-port-count 2-D MEMS switches and achieves much better performance in terms of beam divergence loss, longest optical path, mirror radius, substrate size, port-to-port repeatability, and power consumption than the other three architectures. Furthermore, compared with the 2-D conventional crossbar switch commercially available now, the proposed architecture can save 50% mirrors, shorten 87.5% longest optical path, minify 65% mirror radius, and shrink 90% substrate size.     

High-isolation CPW MEMS shunt switches. 2. Design

For pt.1 see ibid., vol.48, no.6, p.1045-1052 (2000). In this paper, the second of two parts, the equivalent RLC model of the shunt switch is used in the design of tuned two- and four-bridge “cross” switches from 10 to 40 GHz. The cross switch attained an insertion loss of less than 0.3-0.6 dB, a return loss below -20 dB from 22 to 38 GHz in the up state, and a down-state isolation of 45-50 dB with only 1.5 pF of down-state capacitance (C_d). Also, an X-band microelectromechanical system (MEMS) switch with an insertion loss of less than 0.2 dB and an isolation of 35 dB is presented. This is done by inductively tuning the LC series resonance of the shunt switch. The MEMS bridge height is 1.5-2.5 μm, resulting in a pull-down voltage of 15-25 V. Application areas are in low-loss high-isolation communication and radar     

电磁驱动推拉式射频MEMS开关的设计与制作

提出了一种新型电磁驱动推拉式射频MEMS开关。针对传统静电驱动单臂梁开关所需驱动电压大、恢复力不足等问题,设计了一种推拉式开关结构,降低了驱动电压(电流),提高了开关的隔离度,同时实现了单刀双掷的功能。单晶Si梁由于自身无应力,解决了悬臂梁残余应力引起的梁变形问题。通过理论计算和有限元分析,优化了开关设计尺寸,在外围永磁铁磁感应梯度dB/dz=100T/m,在线圈通入100mA电流的驱动下,单晶Si扭转梁末端可以获得约10μm的弯曲量,满足开关驱动要求。给出了开关的详细微细加工流程,对开关的传输参数进行了测试,在10GHz时隔离度为-40dB.     

A novel pull-up type RF MEMS switch with low actuation voltage

We report a novel pull-up type radio frequency (RF) microelectromechanical system (MEMS) switch with no elastic deformation of the cantilever involved in the actuation. At a voltage of 4.5V, reliable actuations are achieved such that the movable lower contact pad is pulled up by the electrostatic force to make contact with the upper pad. At a frequency of 50GHz, an insertion loss of 0.5dB, a return loss of 12.4dB, and an isolation of 55dB are obtained from the switch. The measured transient times for switch-on and switch-off are 120 and 130ns, respectively. Compared to the MEMS switches reported thus far, the pull-up type switch shows the best switching speed and isolation characteristic at 50GHz.     

A fully integrated SOI RF MEMS technology for system-on-a-chip applications

In this paper, a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) radio-frequency (RF) microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technology compatible with CMOS and high-voltage devices for system-on-a-chip applications is experimentally demonstrated for the first time. This technology allows the integration of RF MEMS switches with driver and processing circuits for single-chip communication applications. The SOI high-voltage device (0.7-/spl mu/m channel length, 2-/spl mu/m drift length, and over 35-V breakdown voltage), CMOS devices (0.7-/spl mu/m channel length and 1.3/-1.2 V threshold voltage), and RF MEMS capacitive switch (insertion loss 0.14 dB at 5 GHz and isolation 9.5 dB at 5 GHz) are designed and fabricated to show the feasibility of building fully integrated RF systems. The performance of the fabricated RF MEMS capacitive switches on low-resistivity and high-resistivity SOI substrates will also be compared.     

Wideband CMOS Compatible Capacitive MEMS Switch for RF Applications

This letter presents the design, fabrication, and characterization of a novel capacitive radio frequency (RF) microelectromechanical system (MEMS) switch. The switch uses thermal actuation and a finger structure for capacitive coupling. The switch is CMOS process-compatible and uses a two step maskless reactive ion etching (RIE) micromachining technique for post-processing. The measurement results show that the insertion loss is 1.6 dB and isolation is 33 dB at 5.4 GHz. The applications of this switch are ISM/WLAN CMOS front-end reconfigurable RF circuits such as voltage controlled oscillators, filters, and matching networks.      

基于SP4T开关的4位MEMS开关线式移相器设计

设计了一款4位MEMS开关线式移相器,由SP4TMEMS开关和微带传输线构成,工作于X波段。单刀四掷(single pole 4throw,SP4T)开关用于切换两条不同电长度的信号通道,即参考相位通道和延迟相位通道。每个SP4T开关包含4个悬臂梁接触式RF MEMS串联开关。介绍了4位MEMS开关线式移相器的总体设计,并给出了其关键部件SP4T开关和相位延迟线的设计细节。采用ADS软件仿真分析了器件的电气性能。仿真分析得到:SP4T开关在中心频率10GHz处的回波损耗为-36dB,插入损耗约为0.18dB;移相器各相位的回波损耗均低于-15dB,插入损耗为-0.8～-0.4dB。这种射频MEMS移相器具有小型化、低功耗和高隔离度的优点。     

High-isolation CPW MEMS shunt switches. 1. Modeling

This paper, the first of two parts, presents an electromagnetic model for membrane microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) shunt switches for microwave/millimeter-wave applications. The up-state capacitance can be accurately modeled using three-dimensional static solvers, and full-wave solvers are used to predict the current distribution and inductance of the switch. The loss in the up-state position is equivalent to the coplanar waveguide line loss and is 0.01-0.02 dB at 10-30 GHz for a 2-μm-thick Au MEMS shunt switch. It is seen that the capacitance, inductance, and series resistance can be accurately extracted from DC-40 GHz S-parameter measurements. It is also shown that dramatic increase in the down-state isolation (20⁺ dB) can be achieved with the choice of the correct LC series resonant frequency of the switch. In part 2 of this paper, the equivalent capacitor-inductor-resistor model is used in the design of tuned high isolation switches at 10 and 30 GHz     

Piezoelectrically actuated RF MEMS DC contact switches with low voltage operation

In this paper, fully integrated radio frequency (RF) microelectromechanical system (MEMS) switches with piezoelectric actuation have been proposed, designed, fabricated, and characterized. At a very low operation voltage of 2.5V, reliable and reproducible operation of the fabricated switch was obtained. The proposed RF MEMS switch is comprised of a piezoelectric cantilever actuator with a floated contact electrode and isolated CPW transmission line suspended above the silicon substrate. The measured insertion loss and isolation of the fabricated piezoelectric switch are -0.22 dB and -42dB at a frequency of 2GHz, respectively.     

Package‐Platformed Linear/Circular Polarization Reconfigurable Antenna Using an Integrated Silicon RF MEMS Switch

This letter presents a K‐band polarization reconfigurable antenna integrated with a silicon radio frequency MEMS switch into the form of a compact package. The proposed antenna can change its state from linear polarization (LP) to circular polarization (CP) by actuating the MEMS switch, which controls the configuration of the coupling ring slot. Low‐loss quartz is used for a radiating patch substrate and at the same time for a packaging lid by stacking it onto the MEMS substrate, which can increase the system integrity. The fabricated antenna shows broadband impedance matching and exhibits high axial ratios better than 15 dB in the LP and small axial ratios in the CP, with a minimum value of 0.002 dB at 20.8 GHz in the K‐band.