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Radio frequency microelectromechanical systems (RF MEMS) cantilever contact switches have been tested for lifetime. The mean cycles-to-failure measured on an ensemble of switches was 430 billion switch cycles. The longest lifetime exhibited without degradation of the switch was 914 billion switch cycles. The devices were switched at 20 kHz with an incident RF frequency of 10 GHz and an incident RF power of 20 dBm. Testing was performed continuously over a period of approximately 18 months. The switches were operated in a cold-switched mode.

This paper provides a quantitative comparison and explores the design space of lead zirconium titanate (PZT)–only and PZT-on-silicon length-extensional mode resonators for incorporation into radio frequency microelectromechanical system filters and oscillators. We experimentally measured the correlation of motional impedance (RX) and quality factor (Q) with the resonators’ silicon layer thickness (tSi). For identical lateral dimensions and PZT-layer thicknesses (tPZT), the PZT-on-silicon resonator has higher resonant frequency (fC), higher Q (5100 versus 140), lower RX (51 Ω versus 205 Ω), and better linearity [third-order input intercept point (IIP3) of +43.7 dBm versus +23.3 dBm]. In contrast, the PZT-only resonator demonstrated much wider frequency tuning range (5.1% versus 0.2%).

This paper provides a quantitative comparison and explores the design space of PZT-only (Lead Zirconium Titanate) and PZT-on-Silicon length-extensional mode resonators for incorporation into RF MEMS filters and oscillators. We experimentally measured the correlation of motional impedance (R X ) and quality factor (Q) with the resonators' silicon layer thickness (t Si ). For identical lateral dimensions and PZT-layer thickness (t PZT ), the PZT-on-Silicon resonator has higher resonant frequency (dominated by silicon), higher Q (5,100 vs. 140) and lower motional impedance (51 Ω vs. 205 Ω). However, PZT-only resonator demonstrated much wider frequency tuning range (5.1% vs. 0.2%).