Design and characterization of a MEMS capacitive switch for improved RF amplifier circuits

A design procedure for a MEMS capacitive switch with a focus on the circuit designer's requirements is presented. A MEMS switch is designed, fabricated and characterized with physical and RF measurements for inclusion in simulations. Using the MEMS switch models, a dual-band LNA operating at 2.4 GHz and 5.2 GHz, and a tunable power amplifier at 5.2 GHz are designed in 0.18 /spl mu/m CMOS. MEMS switches allow the LNA to operate with 11 dB of isolation between the two bands and result in up to 37% PAE improvement in the PA at low input powers.