A High-Reliability RF MEMS Metal-Contact Switch Based on Al-Sc Alloy
This paper presents a new metal-contact RF MEMS switch based on an Al-Sc alloy. The use of an Al-Sc alloy is intended to replace the traditional Au-Au contact, which can greatly improve the hardness of the contact, and thus improve the reliability of the switch. The multi-layer stack structure is ad...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2023-05-01
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| Series: | Micromachines |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-666X/14/6/1098 |
| _version_ | 1827736447219662848 |
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| author | Zhongxuan Hou Yongkang Zhang Chaowei Si Guowei Han Yongmei Zhao Xiaorui Lu Jiahui Liu Jin Ning Tongbo Wei |
| author_facet | Zhongxuan Hou Yongkang Zhang Chaowei Si Guowei Han Yongmei Zhao Xiaorui Lu Jiahui Liu Jin Ning Tongbo Wei |
| author_sort | Zhongxuan Hou |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This paper presents a new metal-contact RF MEMS switch based on an Al-Sc alloy. The use of an Al-Sc alloy is intended to replace the traditional Au-Au contact, which can greatly improve the hardness of the contact, and thus improve the reliability of the switch. The multi-layer stack structure is adopted to achieve the low switch line resistance and hard contact surface. The polyimide sacrificial layer process is developed and optimized, and the RF switches are fabricated and tested for pull-in voltage, S-parameters, and switching time. The switch shows high isolation of more than 24 dB and a low insertion loss of less than 0.9 dB in the frequency range of 0.1–6 GHz. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T02:09:54Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-fd4f598425eb4eed882cfdc1dd3e175b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2072-666X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T02:09:54Z |
| publishDate | 2023-05-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Micromachines |
| spelling | doaj.art-fd4f598425eb4eed882cfdc1dd3e175b2023-11-18T11:38:22ZengMDPI AGMicromachines2072-666X2023-05-01146109810.3390/mi14061098A High-Reliability RF MEMS Metal-Contact Switch Based on Al-Sc AlloyZhongxuan Hou0Yongkang Zhang1Chaowei Si2Guowei Han3Yongmei Zhao4Xiaorui Lu5Jiahui Liu6Jin Ning7Tongbo Wei8Engineering Research Center for Semiconductor Integrated Technology, Institute of Semiconductors, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100083, ChinaEngineering Research Center for Semiconductor Integrated Technology, Institute of Semiconductors, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100083, ChinaEngineering Research Center for Semiconductor Integrated Technology, Institute of Semiconductors, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100083, ChinaEngineering Research Center for Semiconductor Integrated Technology, Institute of Semiconductors, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100083, ChinaEngineering Research Center for Semiconductor Integrated Technology, Institute of Semiconductors, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100083, ChinaEngineering Research Center for Semiconductor Integrated Technology, Institute of Semiconductors, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100083, ChinaEngineering Research Center for Semiconductor Integrated Technology, Institute of Semiconductors, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100083, ChinaEngineering Research Center for Semiconductor Integrated Technology, Institute of Semiconductors, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100083, ChinaResearch and Development Center for Semiconductor Lighting Technology, Institute of Semiconductors, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100083, ChinaThis paper presents a new metal-contact RF MEMS switch based on an Al-Sc alloy. The use of an Al-Sc alloy is intended to replace the traditional Au-Au contact, which can greatly improve the hardness of the contact, and thus improve the reliability of the switch. The multi-layer stack structure is adopted to achieve the low switch line resistance and hard contact surface. The polyimide sacrificial layer process is developed and optimized, and the RF switches are fabricated and tested for pull-in voltage, S-parameters, and switching time. The switch shows high isolation of more than 24 dB and a low insertion loss of less than 0.9 dB in the frequency range of 0.1–6 GHz.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-666X/14/6/1098RF MEMSswitchAl-Sc alloyS-parameters |
| spellingShingle | Zhongxuan Hou Yongkang Zhang Chaowei Si Guowei Han Yongmei Zhao Xiaorui Lu Jiahui Liu Jin Ning Tongbo Wei A High-Reliability RF MEMS Metal-Contact Switch Based on Al-Sc Alloy Micromachines RF MEMS switch Al-Sc alloy S-parameters |
| title | A High-Reliability RF MEMS Metal-Contact Switch Based on Al-Sc Alloy |
| title_full | A High-Reliability RF MEMS Metal-Contact Switch Based on Al-Sc Alloy |
| title_fullStr | A High-Reliability RF MEMS Metal-Contact Switch Based on Al-Sc Alloy |
| title_full_unstemmed | A High-Reliability RF MEMS Metal-Contact Switch Based on Al-Sc Alloy |
| title_short | A High-Reliability RF MEMS Metal-Contact Switch Based on Al-Sc Alloy |
| title_sort | high reliability rf mems metal contact switch based on al sc alloy |
| topic | RF MEMS switch Al-Sc alloy S-parameters |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-666X/14/6/1098 |
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