In-Plane Electrostatically-Actuated RF MEMS Switch Suspended on a Low-Resistivity Substrate

In this work, a lateral, resistive-contact electrostatically-actuated RF MEMS switch for ground wireless communication applications, is presented. It has been manufactured on a low-resistivity substrate, and its RF performance has been improved by suspending the structures 25 mum apart from the substrate. Measured insertion loss, return loss and isolation are -0.13, -38 and -60 dB at 0.9 GHz, and -0.4, -28.7 and -31 dB at 6 GHz, respectively. These results demonstrate the potential feasibility of integrating RF MEMS lateral switches with active circuitry manufactured on low-resistivity substrate under a system-on-chip concept, while keeping their performance