Evidence of mechanical degradation in microelectromechanical switches subjected to long-term stresses

This paper presents an analysis of the degradation of Radio Frequency (RF) Microelectromechanical Switches (MEMS) subjected to long term stresses. We report the results obtained on two different types of devices respectively with (a) straight and (b) meander anchors. Results show that the different degradation induced during the long term stresses can be related to the different mechanical conformation of the two typologies. In particular, the use of straight anchors results in a better robustness towards viscoelastic mechanical degradation and in a higher reliability to stiction phenomenon during long term stresses.