Novel Beam Design for Compact RF MEMS Series Switches

This paper presents two novel integrated RF MEMS series contact switches for broadband applications. The proposed designs are based on cantilever and clamped-clamped beams that can be easily integrated in large multi-port structures. A novel set of dimples are integrated in the cantilever type switch to prevent the unwanted warpage of the beam resulting from the residual stress of the fabrication process. The switches are fabricated using a metal based six-mask process. The results illustrate smooth beams with excellent RF performance. The cantilever beam switch shows an actuation voltage of 60 V with better than a 0.35 dB insertion loss and a 24 dB return loss up to 40 GHz. The isolation of the switch is 22 dB for all the frequency band of interest. The clamped-clamped beam switch results are also presented indicating enhanced isolation of 26 dB up to 40 GHz with 0.5 dB insertion loss.