Origin and Optimization of RF Power Handling Limitations in Inline Phase-Change Switches

The power handling capabilities of inline phase-change switches (IPCS's) at radio frequencies (RF) have been correlated with the dc threshold voltage (V th ) of the devices. The dependence of V th on microheater pulsing parameters and device layout has been characterized, accompanied by observa...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:IEEE transactions on electron devices 2017-09, Vol.64 (9), p.3934-3942
Main Authors: El-Hinnawy, Nabil, Borodulin, Pavel, King, Matthew R., Padilla, Carlos R., Ezis, Andris, Nichols, Doyle T., Paramesh, Jeyanandh, Bain, James A., Young, Robert M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Amorphization
Current measurement
Devices
Electrical resistance measurement
Gete
Handling
inline phase change switch
inline phase-change switches (IPCS)
microheater
Optical switches
Phase transitions
Radio frequency
Resistance
RF power handling
Scanning electron microscopy
Scanning transmission electron microscopy
scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM)
Switches
Threshold voltage
Transmission electron microscopy
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Summary:The power handling capabilities of inline phase-change switches (IPCS's) at radio frequencies (RF) have been correlated with the dc threshold voltage (V th ) of the devices. The dependence of V th on microheater pulsing parameters and device layout has been characterized, accompanied by observation of the size of the amorphous chalcogenide region through scanning transmission electron microscopy. All observations are consistent with threshold field (F th ) of nominally 50:50 GeTe of 12.6 V/μm. Use of W-based microheaters in the IPCS processes has improved device performance and reliability, with increases in the product of cutoff-frequency (F co ) and V th over previous IPCS devices using NiCrSi microheaters. The improved devices demonstrated power handling capabilities up to 29 dBm in a 50-Ω system for a switch with submicrometer dimensions, where the improvement is attributed to the larger amorphous zone created at the minimum power to amorphize. These improved devices demonstrate the feasibility of these switches in both transmit and receive wireless applications. A correlation between the maximum allowed RF voltage across the OFF-state switch and the dc V th of the OFF device was observed, indicating the dc V th is an accurate predictor of RF power handling.
ISSN:0018-9383
1557-9646
DOI:10.1109/TED.2017.2730231