Investigating the impact of carbon contamination on RF MEMS reliability

Author

Carton, Andrew ; Christodoulou, C.G. ; Dyck, Christopher ; Nordquist, Christopher

Author_Institution

New Mexico Univ., Albuquerque, NM

fYear

2006

fDate

9-14 July 2006

Firstpage

193

Lastpage

196

Abstract

Radio frequency microelectromechanical systems (RF MEMS) are advantageous for reconfigurable antennas providing the potential for steering, frequency agility, and tunable directivity. Until RF MEMS switches can consistently reach cycles into the billions (if not trillions), limited reliability outweighs the promised benefits, preventing the deployment of RF MEMS into systems. Understanding failure mechanisms is essential to improving reliability. This paper describes preliminary reliability results and tests conducted in a vacuum chamber to investigate and understand the impact of contamination related failure mechanisms

Keywords

carbon; failure analysis; micromechanical devices; reliability; RF MEMS reliability; carbon contamination; failure mechanisms; radio frequency microelectromechanical systems; reconfigurable antennas; vacuum chamber; Circuit testing; Contacts; Contamination; Failure analysis; Gold; Power system reliability; Probes; Radio frequency; Radiofrequency microelectromechanical systems; Switches;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Antennas and Propagation Society International Symposium 2006, IEEE

Conference_Location

Albuquerque, NM

Print_ISBN

1-4244-0123-2

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/APS.2006.1710487

Filename

1710487