Optimization of cantilever-based MEMS switch

Author

Vakilian, Mehdi ; Mousavi, Monirehalsadat ; Bais, Badariah ; Majlis, Burhanuddin Yeop

Author_Institution

Inst. of Microeng. & Nanoelectron. (IMEN), Univ. Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Bangi, Malaysia

fYear

2012

fDate

19-21 Sept. 2012

Firstpage

168

Lastpage

172

Abstract

In this paper, RF MEMS switches were studied. One of the applications of RF MEMS switches is in the reconfigurable antenna where it is used to replace the traditional switches such as FET and PIN switches. Among the RF MEMS switches, the cantilever-based MEMS switch is the most popular for its low cost and ease of the fabrication process. The 3D builder and Thermo-Electro-Mechanical (TEM) modules of the IntelliSuite software were used for the simulation of the cantilever-based MEMS switch. The effect of materials and beam geometry of the switch on the pull in voltage and the operating frequency were discussed. The simulation results showed that there is a trade-off between the pull in voltage and the operating frequency for optimizing the cantilever-based MEMS switch.

Keywords

cantilevers; electronic engineering computing; microswitches; optimisation; 3D builder; FET switch; IntelliSuite software; PIN switch; RF MEMS switches; TEM modules; beam geometry; cantilever-based MEMS switch; fabrication; optimization; reconfigurable antenna; thermo-electro-mechanical modules; Antennas; Micromechanical devices; Microswitches; Radio frequency; Silicon; Structural beams;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Semiconductor Electronics (ICSE), 2012 10th IEEE International Conference on

Conference_Location

Kuala Lumpur

Print_ISBN

978-1-4673-2395-6

Electronic_ISBN

978-1-4673-2394-9

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/SMElec.2012.6417116

Filename

6417116