Modeling and design of very low-voltage MEMS microswitch using dynamic pull-in

This study proposes the use of a new actuation technique to trigger ON/OFF states of a capacitive microswitch. The proposed technique is compatible with CMOS technology thanks to its low and simple actuation voltage. Using a reduced-order model based on the Differential Quadrature Method, which fully incorporate the electrostatic force nonlinearities, we solve for static, transient and limit-cycle solutions. We show that using only nine grid points give relatively accurate results when compared to those obtained using ANSYS. Then we examine the dynamic behavior of the MEMS switch under different electrical actuation waveforms and obtain results indicating that subsequent reduction can be obtained in actuation voltage and switching time compared to classical static pull-in actuation.