AlN Actuator for Tunable RFMEMS Capacitor

This paper presents a novel piezoelectric actuator design that achieves low curling due to residual film stress. The proposed actuator maintains the gap between the movable electrode and the fixed electrode nearly constant independent of the residual stress level, improving the reproducibility and reliability of piezoelectric devices. At 20V excitation, the actuator deflects more than 5 µm. The design also achieves a capacitor electrode around 6% of the total actuator area, which is 2.5 times greater than other reported designs. This paper demonstrates the novel actuator in a tunable capacitor, but the actuator may be used in many other applications, such as MEMS switches and micro-mirrors.