Surface-Micromachined Capacitive RF Switches and Varactors

Conference: Mikrosystemtechnik Kongress 2005 - Mikrosystemtechnik Kongress 2005
10/10/2005 - 10/12/2005 at Munich, Germany

Proceedings: Mikrosystemtechnik Kongress 2005

Pages: 4Language: englishTyp: PDF

Personal VDE Members are entitled to a 10% discount on this title

Authors:
Lisec, T.; Huth, Ch.; Wagner, B. (Fraunhofer Institute for Silicon Technology, Itzehoe, Germany)

Abstract:
This paper presents capacitive RF MEMS switches and varactors based on Nickel as structural material. Sputtered AlN is used as dielectric in the active area. In contrast to PECVD Si3N4 no charging has been observed in a wide range of driving conditions. The released devices survive heat treatements at up to 450deg C without degradation due to an anchoring with temperature compensation effect. By introducing compressive stress in the membrane of devices with additional upper electrodes s-shaped varactors with a tuning range of 3 pF have been obtained.