Annealing effect on contact characteristics in TiN based 3-terminal NEM relays

Thermal annealing process has been accommodated to improve contact characteristics in TiN based NEM relays. The annealing process was performed after TiN electrode formation and before HF release. As a result, abrupt I-V characteristic and current stability have been attained. In cyclic test, the device with thermal treatment showed slow contact degradation. These results suggest that the thermal annealing is effective for improving the device performance and for obtaining a reliable operation in TiN based NEM relays.