Title: The determination of the pull-in voltage from the condition of bridge stability

Authors: E.R. Neagu, C.J. Dias, M. Carmo Lanca, J.N. Marat-Mendes, R.M. Neagu

Addresses: Departamento de Ciencia dos Materiais, Centro de Investigacao de Materiais (CENIMAT), I3N, Instituto de Nanoestruturas, Nanomodelacao e Nanofabricacao, FCT-UNL, 2829-516 Campus de Caparica, Portugal. ' Departamento de Ciencia dos Materiais, Centro de Investigacao de Materiais (CENIMAT), I3N, Instituto de Nanoestruturas, Nanomodelacao e Nanofabricacao, FCT-UNL, 2829-516 Campus de Caparica, Portugal. ' Departamento de Ciencia dos Materiais, Centro de Investigacao de Materiais (CENIMAT), I3N, Instituto de Nanoestruturas, Nanomodelacao e Nanofabricacao, FCT-UNL, 2829-516 Campus de Caparica, Portugal. ' Departamento de Ciencia dos Materiais, Centro de Investigacao de Materiais (CENIMAT), I3N, Instituto de Nanoestruturas, Nanomodelacao e Nanofabricacao, FCT-UNL, 2829-516 Campus de Caparica, Portugal. ' Department of Physics, Technical University of Iasi, Str. D. Masngeron 67, Iasi 700050, Romania

Abstract: An analytical expression for the pull-in voltage is deduced for an RF micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) switch, by tacking into account the presence of a dielectric layer deposited on the coplanar waveguide. The model allows investigation of the influence of the dielectric permittivity and the geometry of the device on the displacement d of the bridge and on the pull-in voltage. A comparison of the experimental data and the simulated data gives indication about the best way to estimate the pull-in voltage. The difference between the value obtained for the pull-in voltage, when the contribution of the dielectric layer is taken into account and the value of the pull-in voltage obtained by neglecting the presence of the dielectric layer is significant indicating that the presence of the dielectric layer cannot be neglected.

Keywords: microelectromechanical systems; MEMS switches; RF capacitive switching; space-charge; dielectric charging; actuation voltage; pull-in voltage; dielectric layer.

DOI: 10.1504/IJNM.2010.029931

International Journal of Nanomanufacturing, 2010 Vol.5 No.1/2, pp.139 - 151

Published online: 03 Dec 2009 *

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