Micromechanical silicon RF switch with electroplated solid contacts for high reliability

A new micromechanical switch for high-frequency applications is presented. The switch is fabricated by silicon deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) and electroplating. The actuation is realized by an electrostatic parallel plate drive with high actuation force which allows the use of hard gold as contac...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Menz, A., Hoper, R.
Format: Conference Proceeding
Language:English
Subjects:
Contacts
DRIE
electroplating
Electrostatics
MEMS
Metals
Radio frequency
reliability
RF switch
Silicon
Switches
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Summary:A new micromechanical switch for high-frequency applications is presented. The switch is fabricated by silicon deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) and electroplating. The actuation is realized by an electrostatic parallel plate drive with high actuation force which allows the use of hard gold as contact material. The switch can be adapted for DC to 20 GHz applications. A hermetic zero-level packaging avoids contamination of the contact area. Simulation results are compared to measurements and show a good matching. Hot switched lifetime tests are presented. The switch is designed to be connected by flip-chip or wire bonding. The potential application areas are: mobile communication systems, test equipment, and radar systems.