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Recent Patents on Mechanical Engineering

Editor-in-Chief

ISSN (Print): 2212-7976
ISSN (Online): 1874-477X

Failure Mechanisms and Reliability Analysis of RF MEMS Switches

Author(s): Wenchao Tian, Qiang Chao and Zhiqiang Chen

Volume 8, Issue 3, 2015

Page: [201 - 210] Pages: 10

DOI: 10.2174/2212797608666151006010538

Price: $65

Abstract

RF MEMS switches have attracted widespread attention in recent years. Compared to PIN diodes and FET switches, RF MEMS switches have many advantages including low insertion loss, high isolation, low power consumption, high linearity, small size, low cost, wide band and easy integration. In this paper, the working principle of RF MEMS switches is introduced. Then, the failure mechanisms and reliability analysis of the RF MEMS capacitive switches are introduced from dielectric charging, temperature and pull-in voltage. While the failure mechanisms and reliability analysis of the ohmic RF MEMS switches are introduced from material, pull-in voltage, temperature and structure. In this paper, various recent patents to improve the reliability of the RF MEMS switches are also presented and discussed. The factors affecting the reliability of the RF MEMS switches are summarized and several methods are proposed to improve the reliability of the RF MEMS switches. Finally, the current and future developments of the RF MEMS switches are discussed in this paper.

Keywords: Dielectric charging, failure mechanisms, life time, reliability analysis, RF MEMS switches, temperature.


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