Fault Analysis of a MEMS Tuneable Bandpass Filter

The availability of Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) switches has enabled the design of a high Q-factor but low insertion loss tuneable bandpass filter. This paper investigates the potential faults that could occur during fabrication and long term operation of a tuneable bandpass filter using MEMS switches. The causes of the filter defects and the resulting filter response will be identified, simulated and co- related, with the final aim of being able to identify the defects by measuring the faulty responses in the future. The different defects are simulated using SONNET to obtain the response of the faulty filter. Parameters such as insertion loss and return loss of the tuneable filter vary for different faults. In the future study, the defects will be recreated and tested experimentally to corroborate simulation findings. Eventually, a relationship between defects and the filter response will be developed.