Abstract-This paper reports on novel electrostatically actuated dc-to-RF metal-contact microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) switches, featuring a minimum transmission line discontinuity since the whole switch mechanism is completely embedded inside the signal line of a low-loss 3-D micromachined coplanar waveguide. Furthermore, the switches are based on a multistable interlocking mechanism resulting in static zero-power consumption, i.e., both the onstate and the offstate are maintained without applying external actuation energy. Additionally, the switches provide with active opening capability, potentially improving the switch reliability, and enabling the usage of soft low-resistivity contact materials.
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