High power GaN monolithically integrated RF MEMS switches

This paper outlines the design for a high power MEMS switch monolithically integrated on a CPFC MMIC GaN500 process. The switch was designed and optimized to facilitate integrated, reconfigurable, GaN HFET amplifiers. The measurement results for the switch show an insertion loss of less than 0.4 dB and isolation higher than 15 dB when used at frequencies of up to 10 GHz. During continuous wave measurements, the switches can handle high power (higher than 3.6 W) under hot switching with a third order input intercept point of more than 68 dBm.