Temperature Acceleration of Dielectric Charging in RF MEMS Capacitive Switches

Temperature acceleration of dielectric-charging effects in state-of-the-art RF MEMS capacitive switches was characterized and modeled. From the measured charging and discharging transient currents at different temperatures, densities and time constants of traps in the dielectric were extracted. It was found that, while charging and discharging time constants are relatively independent of temperature, steady-state charge densities increase with temperature. A charging model was constructed to predict the amount of charge injected into the dielectric and the corresponding shift in actuation voltage under different temperatures. Agreement was obtained between the model prediction and experimental data.