Influence of the substrate on the lifetime of capacitive RF MEMS switches

• Published in: 2008 IEEE 21st International Conference on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems pp. 172 - 175
• Main Authors: Czarnecki, P., Rottenberg, X., Soussan, P., Ekkels, P., Muller, P., Nolmans, P., De Raedt, W., Tilmans, H.A.C., Puers, R., Marchand, L., De Wolf, I.
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: IEEE 01-01-2008
• Subjects: Capacitance measurement; Capacitance-voltage characteristics; Dielectric devices; Dielectric substrates; Failure analysis; Radiofrequency microelectromechanical systems; Stress measurement; Switches; Testing; Voltage
• ISBN: 9781424417926; 1424417929
• ISSN: 1084-6999
• DOI: 10.1109/MEMSYS.2008.4443620

We show for the first time that the substrate can influence the lifetime of capacitive RF MEMS switches. We demonstrate that the influence of the substrate should not be ignored. The influence of the environment on the lifetime of a switch is different when it is fabricated on two different substrates. We also present that a switch actuated with a DC voltage lower than the pull-in voltage can pull-in after some time. The goal of the performed experiment was to emphasize the charging of the substrate. The presented results help to understand the substrate charging problem.