TY - GEN
T1 - Investigation of charging mechanisms in RF-MEMS capacitive switches with silicon nitride
T2 - 2009 IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium, IMS 2009
AU - Papaioannou, G.
AU - Tavassolian, N.
AU - Koutsoureli, M.
AU - Papandreou, E.
AU - Papapolymerou, J.
PY - 2009
Y1 - 2009
N2 - The mechanisms responsible for the dielectric charging of RF MEMS capacitive switches with PECVD nitride are systematically investigated. The investigation is based on the shift of the minimum of capacitance-voltage characteristic with maximum bias in pull-down state, temperature and nitride stoichiometry. The contribution of current injection from trap assisted tunneling and Poole-Frenkel effect is investigated. The experimental results indicate that the charging arises from the formation of a defect band where charge transport occurs through a Poole-Frenkel like effect. The calculated activation energy shows direct relation to material stoichiometry hence the nitride band gap. The nitride deposited at a lower temperature is also less prone to dielectric charging.
AB - The mechanisms responsible for the dielectric charging of RF MEMS capacitive switches with PECVD nitride are systematically investigated. The investigation is based on the shift of the minimum of capacitance-voltage characteristic with maximum bias in pull-down state, temperature and nitride stoichiometry. The contribution of current injection from trap assisted tunneling and Poole-Frenkel effect is investigated. The experimental results indicate that the charging arises from the formation of a defect band where charge transport occurs through a Poole-Frenkel like effect. The calculated activation energy shows direct relation to material stoichiometry hence the nitride band gap. The nitride deposited at a lower temperature is also less prone to dielectric charging.
KW - Dielectric materials
KW - Micro-electro-mechanical devices
KW - RF MEMS switches
KW - Reliability
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=73149125422&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=73149125422&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1109/MWSYM.2009.5166031
DO - 10.1109/MWSYM.2009.5166031
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:73149125422
SN - 9781424428045
T3 - IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium Digest
SP - 1653
EP - 1656
BT - IMS 2009 - 2009 IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium Digest
Y2 - 7 June 2009 through 12 June 2009
ER -