Lifetime characterization of capacitive power RF MEMS switches

RF MEMS switches provide a low-cost, high performance solution to many RF/microwave applications and these switches will be important building blocks for designing phase shifters, switched filters and reflector array antennas for military and commercial markets. In this paper, progress in characterizing of THALES capacitive MEMS devices under high RF power is presented. The design, fabrication and testing of capacitive RF MEMS switches for microwave/mm- wave applications on high-resistivity silicon substrate is presented .The switches tested demonstrated power handling capabilities of 1W (30 dbm) for continuous RF power. The reliability of these switches was tested at various power levels indicating that under continuous RF power. In addition a description of the power failures and their associated operating conditions is presented. The PC-based test stations to cycle switches and measure lifetime under DC and RF loads have been developed. Best-case lifetimes of 10¹⁰ cycles have been achieved in several switches from different lots under 30 dbm RF power.