Studies on the pull-up RF MEMS switch for the lower actuation voltage and high speed using double electrode

We report a pull-up type RF MEMS switch using double electrode without elastic deformation of the cantilever involved in the actuation. At a voltage of 4.5 V, reliable actuations are achieved such that the movable lower contact pad is pulled up by the electrostatic force to make contact with the upper pad. At a frequency of 50 GHz, an insertion loss of 0.7 dB and an isolation of 50.7 dB are obtained from the switch. The measured transient times for switch-on and switch-off are 120 and 80 ns, respectively.