• 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.

• JSTS:Journal of Semiconductor Technology and Science
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.177-182
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• 2007

This paper presents the see-saw type RF MEMS switch based on a single crystalline silicon structure with narrow gap vertical comb. Low actuation voltage and high isolation are key features to be solved in electrostatic RF MEMS switch design. Since these parameters in conventional parallel plate RF MEMS switch designs are in trade-off relationship, both requirements cannot be met simultaneously. In the vertical comb design, however, the actuation voltage is independent of the vertical separation distance between the contact electrodes. Therefore, the large separation gap between contact electrodes is implemented to achieve high isolation. We have designed and fabricated RF MEMS switch which has 46dB isolation at 5GHz, 0.9dB insertion loss at 5GHz and 40V actuation voltage.

• 한국정보통신설비학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2006.08a
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• pp.67-70
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• 2006

This paper deals with a single crystalline silicon (SCS) RF MEMS switch for telecommunication system applications. The proposed SCS switch was fabricated using a silicon-on-glass (SiOG) process and its performances in terms of RF responses, switching time, lifetime were characterized. The proposed SCS switch consists of movable plates, mechanical spring structures, which are composed of robust SCS, resulting in mechanically good stability, The measured actuation voltage was 30 V, and with this applied voltage, the insertion loss and isolation characteristics were measured to be 0.05 and 44.6 dB at 2 GHz respectively. The measured switch ON and OFF time were 13 and $9{\mu}s$, respectively. The lifetime of the fabricated switch was tested. Even after over 1 billion cycles repeated ON/OFF actuations, the switch maintained its own characteristics.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea SD
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.7-12
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• 2008

This paper presents a lateral resistive contact RF MEMS switch using comb drive. Our goal was to fabricate the RF MEMS switch with high reliability and good RF characteristics for front end module in wireless transceiver system. Therefore, comb drive is used for large contact force in order to achieve low insertion loss and small off-state capacitance in order to achieve high isolation. The single crystalline silicon is used for mechanical reliability. As a result, the developed switch showed insertion loss less than 0.44 dB at 2 GHz, isolation greater than 60 dB, and low actuation voltage at 26 V.

• 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.

• Proceedings of the IEEK Conference
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• 2005.11a
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• pp.953-956
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• 2005

Low voltage actuation and high isolation characteristics are key features to be solved in electrostatic RF switch design. Since these parameters in the conventional parallel plate MEMS switch design are in trade-off relation, both requirements cannot be met simultaneously. In vertical comb design, however, the actuation voltage is independent to the vertical separation distance between the contact electrodes. Then, we can design the large separation distance between contact electrodes to get high isolation. We have designed an RF MEMS switch which has -40dB isolation at 5 GHz and 6 V operation voltages. The characteristics of the fabricated switch are being evaluate.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2009.07a
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• pp.1509_1510
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• 2009

This paper presents the design and simulation results of ohmic contact RF MEMS silicon switch with a high isolation at high frequencies along with the position of a contact part, initial off-state and intermediate off-state including the state where a contact part is placed right over a signal line of coplanar waveguide (CPW). The ohmic contact part is connected with comb drives made of high resistivity single crystalline silicon. The released contact part is $30{\mu}m$ apart from the edge of signal line on the glass substrate along the lateral direction (x-direction) at initial off-state. The electrostatic force of the comb electrode creates the x-directional movement thus initial state is converted to the intermediate off-state. The initial off-state of the switch results in isolations of -31 dB, -24 dB and reflections of -0.45 dB, -0.67 dB at 50 GHz and 110 GHz, respectively. It shows the isolation degradation when the contact part moves right over the signal line of CPW like an initial off-state of a conventional MEMS switch. The isolations and reflections are -31 dB, -24 dB and -0.50 dB, -1.31 dB at 50 GHz and 110 GHz, respectively at the intermediate off-state.

• 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 KIEE Conference
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• 2009.07a
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• pp.1511_1512
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• 2009

This paper presents a polarization switching antenna integrated with silicon RF MEMS SPDT switches in the form of a package. A low-loss quartz substrate made of SoQ (silicon-on-quartz) bonding is used as a dielectric material of the patch antenna, as well as a packaging lid substrate of RF MEMS switches. The packaging/antenna substrate is bonded with the bottom substrate including feeding lines and RF MEMS switches by BCB adhesive bonding, and RF energy is transmitted from signal lines to antenna by slot coupling. Through this approach, fabrication complexity and degradation of RF performances of the antenna due to the parasitic effects, which are all caused from the packaging methods, can be reduced. This structure is expected to be used as a platform for reconfigurable antennas with RF MEMS tunable components. A linear polarization switching antenna operating at 19 GHz is manufactured based on the proposed method, and the fabrication process is carefully described. The s-parameters of the fabricated antenna at each state are measured to evaluate the antenna performance.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2005.07c
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• pp.2395-2397
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• 2005

A low voltage operated piezoelectric RF MEMS in-line switch has been realized by using silicon bulk micromachining technologies for advanced mobile/wireless applications. The developed RF MEMS in-line switches were comprised of four piezoelectric cantilever actuators with an Au contact metal electrode and a suspended Au signal transmission line above the silicon substrate. The measured operation dc bias voltages were ranged from 2.5 to 4 volts by varying the thickness and the length of the piezoelectric cantilever actuators, which are well agreed with the simulation results. The measured isolation and insertion loss of the switch with series configuration were -43dB and -0.21dB (including parasitic effects of the silicon substrate) at a frequency of 2GHz and an actuation voltage of 3 volts.