Evolution of electrical parameters of dielectric-less ohmic RF-MEMS switches during continuous actuation stress

Author

Tazzoli, A. ; Autizi, E. ; Barbato, M. ; Meneghesso, G. ; Solazzi, F. ; Farinelli, P. ; Giacomozzi, F. ; Iannacci, J. ; Margesin, B. ; Sorrentino, R.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Inf. Eng., Univ. of Padova, Padova, Italy

fYear

2009

fDate

14-18 Sept. 2009

Firstpage

343

Lastpage

346

Abstract

The evolution of the main electrical parameters of dielectric-less ohmic RF-MEMS cantilever-based switches during continuous actuation stress was investigated in this work. Thanks to different designs, the main electrical parameters changes were attributed to a charging phenomena of the oxide over the substrate near the polysilicon actuator, leading to both narrowing and shifting of traditional hysteresis-like curves. Recovery procedures were also analyzed. Furthermore, the breakdown occurrence was also investigated, supported by both emission microscope and optical images.

Keywords

elemental semiconductors; microactuators; microswitches; microwave switches; semiconductor device breakdown; silicon; Si; breakdown occurrence; cantilever-based switches; continuous actuation stress; dielectric-less ohmic RF-MEMS switches; electrical parameters; emission microscope image; optical image; polysilicon actuator; traditional hysteresis-like curve shifting; Actuators; Dielectric substrates; Electric breakdown; Hysteresis; Lead compounds; Optical microscopy; Radiofrequency microelectromechanical systems; Stimulated emission; Stress; Switches;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Solid State Device Research Conference, 2009. ESSDERC '09. Proceedings of the European

Conference_Location

Athens

ISSN

1930-8876

Print_ISBN

978-1-4244-4351-2

Electronic_ISBN

1930-8876

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/ESSDERC.2009.5331307

Filename

5331307