Fully electronic method for quantifying the post-release gap-height uncertainty of capacitive RF MEMS switches

In this paper we present an electronic method for extracting the post-release gap-height uncertainty of RF MEMS switches. The heart of the method is based on accurately measuring the capacitance difference between the switch on and off states. After presenting the methodology we compare its results to optical images of fabricated MEMS switches and observe a close agreement. This methodology is very promising in rapidly and accurately measuring the post-release gap-height of MEMS switches at the wafer scale. It can also be used to continually monitor the gap height through the switch's lifetime.