TY - JOUR
T1 - Dielectric charging in capacitive RF MEMS switches
T2 - The effect of extended durations of electric stress
AU - Tavassolian, Negar
AU - Papaioannou, George
AU - Papapolymerou, John
PY - 2011/11
Y1 - 2011/11
N2 - By focusing on thermally-activated processes, a straight-forward and reliable method is devised to investigate dielectric charging effects in capacitive RF MEMS switches subjected to extended durations of electric stress. A general model of distributed charge and air gap is adopted and further developed for theoretical formulation. Experiments performed over a wide temperature range agree well with the theoretical model. It is shown that for extended stress periods, the algebraic sum of the pull-out voltages is thermally activated, and follows the same temperature trend as the voltage corresponding to the minimum capacitance of the switch. Since pull-out voltages can be measured accurately with little effort, this discovery significantly simplifies the study of thermally-activated processes in these switches. Finally, it is shown that charging increases with time, following a power-law relation.
AB - By focusing on thermally-activated processes, a straight-forward and reliable method is devised to investigate dielectric charging effects in capacitive RF MEMS switches subjected to extended durations of electric stress. A general model of distributed charge and air gap is adopted and further developed for theoretical formulation. Experiments performed over a wide temperature range agree well with the theoretical model. It is shown that for extended stress periods, the algebraic sum of the pull-out voltages is thermally activated, and follows the same temperature trend as the voltage corresponding to the minimum capacitance of the switch. Since pull-out voltages can be measured accurately with little effort, this discovery significantly simplifies the study of thermally-activated processes in these switches. Finally, it is shown that charging increases with time, following a power-law relation.
KW - Dielectric charging
KW - electric stress
KW - radio frequency (RF) micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) switches
KW - silicon dioxide
KW - thermally-activated processes
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U2 - 10.1109/LMWC.2011.2169655
DO - 10.1109/LMWC.2011.2169655
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:81255159006
SN - 1531-1309
VL - 21
SP - 592
EP - 594
JO - IEEE Microwave and Wireless Components Letters
JF - IEEE Microwave and Wireless Components Letters
IS - 11
M1 - 6035743
ER -