A wafer-capped, high-lifetime ohmic MEMS RF switch

An electrostatically actuated broadband ohmic microswitch has been developed for RF and microwave applications. The switch is a three-terminal device based on a cantilever beam and is fabricated using an all-metal, surface-micromachining process. It operates in a hermetic environment obtained through a glass frit wafer-bonding process. RF lifetimes greater than 1010 cycles have been achieved for the wafer capped switch. Typical insertion loss and isolation for a 2-contact switch at 10 GHz are 0.4 and 20 dB, respectively, while the 8-contact switch yields an insertion loss and isolation of 0.2 dB and 27 dB at 2 GHz, respectively. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE 14: 338–344, 2004.