• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.225-230
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• 2013

This paper presents a novel shunt radio frequency microelectromechanical system switch on a quartz substrate with stiff ribs around the membrane. The buckling effects in the switch membrane and stiction problem are the primary concerns with RF MEMS switches. These effects can be reduced by the proposed design approach due to the stiffness of the ribs around the membrane. A lower mass of the beam and a reduction in the squeeze film damping is achieved due to the slots and holes in the membrane, which further aid in attaining high switching speeds. The proposed switch is optimized to operate in the k-band, which results in a high isolation of -40 dB and low insertion loss of -0.047 dB at 21 GHz, with a low actuation voltage of only 14.6 V needed for the operation the switch. The membrane does not bend with this membrane design approach. Finite element modeling is used to analyze the stress and pull-in voltage.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.320-327
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• 2010

In this paper, electrostatically actuated direct contact type RF MEMS switches have been designed and demonstrated. As driving structures of the switch, cantilever, bridge, and torsion spring beam structures are used and the actuation voltage characteristics of the switches have been compared and discussed. The designed RF switches are fabricated with the surface micromachining technology using the electroplated gold and nickel structures. The characteristics of the fabricated switches are measured and analyzed. The switch, which is fabricated using the 510 ${\mu}m$-length bridge structure with the thickness of 1.5 ${\mu}m$, is actuated with 15 V driving voltage. The insertion losses are less than 0.2 dB over the measured frequency ranges from 0 to 20 GHz and the isolations are more than 30 dB.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.77-81
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• 2011

This paper presents a single-pole eight-throw(SP8T) switch based on proposed a radio-frequency(RF) microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) switches. The proposed switch was driven by a double stop(DS) comb drive, with a lateral resistive contact. Additionally, the proposed switch was designed to have tapered signal line and bi-directionally actuated. A forward actuation connects between signal lines and contact part, and the output becomes on-state. A reverse actuation connects between ground lines and contact part, and the output becomes off-state. The SP8T switch of 3-stage tree topology was developed based on an arrangement of the proposed RF MEMS switches. The developed SP8T switch had an actuation voltage of 12 V, an insertion loss of 1.3 dB, a return loss of 15.1 dB, and an isolation of 31.4 dB at 6 GHz.

• Journal of electromagnetic engineering and science
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.135-145
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• 2006

This paper presents the theory, design, fabrication and characterization of the novel low actuation voltage capacitive shunt RF-MEMS switch using a corrugated membrane with HRS MEMS packaging. Analytical analyses and experimental results have been carried out to derive algebraic expressions for the mechanical actuation mechanics of corrugated membrane for a low residual stress. It is shown that the residual stress of both types of corrugated and flat membranes can be modeled with the help of a mechanics theory. The residual stress in corrugated membranes is calculated using a geometrical model and is confirmed by finite element method(FEM) analysis and experimental results. The corrugated electrostatic actuated bridge is suspended over a concave structure of CPW, with sputtered nickel(Ni) as the structural material for the bridge and gold for CPW line, fabricated on high-resistivity silicon(HRS) substrate. The corrugated switch on concave structure requires lower actuation voltage than the flat switch on planar structure in various thickness bridges. The residual stress is very low by corrugating both ends of the bridge on concave structure. The residual stress of the bridge material and structure is critical to lower the actuation voltage. The Self-alignment HRS MEMS package of the RF-MEMS switch with a $15{\Omega}{\cdot}cm$ lightly-doped Si chip carrier also shows no parasitic leakage resonances and is verified as an effective packaging solution for the low cost and high performance coplanar MMICs.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.86-91
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• 2016

Ever increasing demand for microwave operated applications has cultivated need for high-performance universal systems capable of working on multi-bands. This objective can be realized using Multi-Dielectrics in RF MEMS capacitive switch. In this study, we present a detailed analysis of the effect of various dielectrics on switch performance. The design consists of a capacitive switch and performance is analyzed by changing the dielectric layers beneath the switch. The results are obtained using three different dielectrics including Silicon nitride (7.6), Hafnium dioxide (25) and Titanium oxide (50). Testing of proposed switch yields high isolation (- 87.5 dB) and low insertion loss (- 0.1 dB at 50 GHz) which is substantially better than the conventional switches. The operating bandwidth of the proposed switch (DC to 95 GHz) makes it suitable for wide band microwave applications.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2002.07b
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• pp.809-812
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• 2002

This paper presents the structures for a CPW shunt RF switch using MEMS(Micro Electro Mechanical System). Recent development in MEMS technology has made the design and fabrication of micro-mechanical switches as new switching elements. The micro-mechanical switches have low insertion loss, negligible power consumption, and good isolation compared to semiconductor switches. The fabricated structure shows an insertion loss of 2dB at 20GHz When a bias voltages of 12V is apply.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.16-20
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• 2017

A RF-MEMS (radio-frequency microelectromechanical-system) based DPDT (double pole double throw) switch for the Ku band has been designed and analyzed for this article. The switch topology is based on the FG-CPW (finite ground-coplanar waveguide) configuration of a microstrip-transmission line. An FEM-based multiphysics solver is used for the evaluation of the spring constant, stress distribution, and pull-in voltage regarding the requirements of the switch-beam unit. The electromagnetic performance of the switch is investigated for a $675{\mu}m$ thick silicon substrate. For the operational frequency of 14.5 GHz, an insertion loss better than -0.3 dB, a return loss better than -40 dB, and input/output- and output-port isolations better than -35 dB are achieved for the switching unit.

• The Proceeding of the Korean Institute of Electromagnetic Engineering and Science
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.22-32
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• 2002

MEMS(Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems)는 전기적인 구성요소와 기계적인 구성요소를 작게 조합하여 구성한 소자나 시스템을 말한다. RF(Radio Frequency) MEMS는 MEMS를 이용한 RF 소자나 시스템을 의미하며, 본 고에서는 RF 소자에 대하여 논의하고자 한다. MEMS는 RF 소자의 성능, 기능, 집적화 등을 높여 주고, 크기, 가격, 부피, 전력 소모 등을 낮추어 주므로 소자 개발에 대한 연구는 매우 다양하지만, 본 고에서는 움직이는 소자 중에서 가장 많이 연구되고 있는 mechanical RF switch에 대하여 중점적으로 다루고자 한다. 이에 대한 연구 동향, 특성, 응용 분야 등을 살펴보고, 상품으로서의 가치를 인정 받기 위하여 고려해야 할 점들을 논의 하겠다.

• ETRI Journal
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.802-805
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• 2011

This letter presents a K-band polarization reconfigurable antenna integrated with a silicon radio frequency MEMS switch into the form of a compact package. The proposed antenna can change its state from linear polarization (LP) to circular polarization (CP) by actuating the MEMS switch, which controls the configuration of the coupling ring slot. Low-loss quartz is used for a radiating patch substrate and at the same time for a packaging lid by stacking it onto the MEMS substrate, which can increase the system integrity. The fabricated antenna shows broadband impedance matching and exhibits high axial ratios better than 15 dB in the LP and small axial ratios in the CP, with a minimum value of 0.002 dB at 20.8 GHz in the K-band.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.23 no.8 s.185
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• pp.163-170
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• 2006

By removing sacrificial layer through ashing process, movable MEMS structure on substrate can be fabricated in surface micromachining. However, MEMS structure includes, during the ashing process, the warping or buckling effects due to stress gradient along the vertical direction of thin film. In this study, we presented method for counteracting the unwanted deflection of MEMS structure and designed using character of deposit process to overcome limited design conditions. Unit cell patterns were designed with character of deposit shape, and their final shapes were adopted using Finite Element Method. Finally, RF MEMS switch was fabricated by surface micro machining as test vehicles. We checked out that alleviation effect for deformation of switch improved by 35%.