Effect of packaging on dielectric charging in RF MEMS capacitive switches

Peng, Zhen; Palego, Cristiano; Hwang, J.C.M.; Moody, Cody; Malczewski, A.; Pillans, B.; Forehand, David; Goldsmith, C. Franklin

doi:10.1109/mwsym.2009.5166027

Cited by 15 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 3 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…These results agree quite well with the dielectric charging study performed for SiN x films under different relative humidity levels using KPFM [43,47]. The obtained results agree also with the larger shift in the actuation voltage measured for capacitive MEMS switches operated at larger relative humidity levels as reported by Peng et al [26,27]. The small difference in the measured surface potential between groups A and C compared to the large difference between groups A and B indicates that the influence of the relative humidity on the dielectric charging is much higher than the impact of the adsorbed water film thickness.…”

Section: Effect Of Applied Bias On Adhesive and Friction Forcessupporting

confidence: 91%

Nanoscale characterization of different stiction mechanisms in electrostatically driven MEMS devices based on adhesion and friction measurements

Zaghloul

Bhushan

Pons

et al. 2011

Journal of Colloid and Interface Science

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Section: Effect Of Applied Bias On Adhesive and Friction Forcessupporting

confidence: 91%

Nanoscale characterization of different stiction mechanisms in electrostatically driven MEMS devices based on adhesion and friction measurements

Zaghloul

Bhushan

Pons

et al. 2011

Journal of Colloid and Interface Science

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…For an accurate analysis, the influence of each parameter should be addressed separately. For different types of unpackaged (Peng et al 2006) and packaged (Peng et al 2009) capacitive MEMS switches tested under different humidity levels, it is found that bulk charging dominates in dry air, while surface charging increases rapidly with increasing humidity. Besides, under comparable humidity levels and electric fields, unpackaged or improperly packaged switches made of SiO 2 are reported to be less susceptible to surface charging than switches made of SiN x .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the influence of environment gases, relative humidity and gas purification on dielectric charging/discharging processes in electrostatically driven MEMS/NEMS devices

et al. 2010

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In this paper, we investigate the impact of environment gases and relative humidity on dielectric charging phenomenon in electrostatically actuated micro- and nano-electromechanical systems (MEMS and NEMS). The research is based on surface potential measurements using Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM). Plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) silicon nitride films were investigated in view of applications in electrostatic capacitive RF MEMS switches. Charges were injected through the atomic force microscope (AFM) tip, and the induced surface potential was measured using KPFM. Experiments have been performed in air and in nitrogen environments, both under different relative humidity levels ranging from 0.02% to 40%. The impact of oxygen gas and hydrocarbon contaminants has been studied for the first time by using different gas purifiers in both air and nitrogen lines. Voltage pulses with different bias amplitudes have been applied during the charge injection step under all investigated environmental conditions in order to investigate the effect of bias amplitude. The investigation reveals a deeper understanding of charging and discharging processes and could further lead to improved operating environment conditions in order to minimize the dielectric charging. Finally, the nanoscale KPFM results obtained in this study show a good correlation with the device level measurements for capacitive MEMS switches reported in the literature.

show abstract

“…As always, there is the issue of additional failure modes cropping up during the operation of the switch. It is then likely that the equations prescribed in (4) and (5) will no longer be valid. This is especially true for the situation where surface charging is present within the switch.…”

Section: I I C H a R G I N G C U R V E A N D E Q U A T I O Nmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Surface charging is detrimental because it is usually faster to charge than bulk charging but slower to discharge. Since surface charging can be greatly enhanced by ambient humidity [3, 4], most unpackaged switches tend to suffer from surface charging unless tested under very well controlled ambient conditions [5]. With properly prepared dielectric and packaging, the switch lifetime is limited by bulk charging instead of surface charging, which is easier to characterize and model using metal–insulator–metal test structures [6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating and predicting lifetime in capacitive MEMS switches

Goldsmith

O’Brien

Molinero

et al. 2011

Int. J. Microw. Wireless Technol.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

An empirical model has been proposed which provides an excellent fit to the drift of pull-in and release voltages of a MEMS capacitive switch due to bulk dielectric charging. This model correctly fits the linear time dependence over short time spans and transitions to a logarithmic dependence over longer time spans. Using this model to fit measured data enables a quick and efficient determination of the rate of dielectric charging, as well as providing a worst-case prediction of when the switch will fail due to dielectric charging. This model has been used to explore the impact of applied voltage, temperature, and duty factor on switch lifetime.

show abstract

Effect of packaging on dielectric charging in RF MEMS capacitive switches

Cited by 15 publications

References 3 publications

Nanoscale characterization of different stiction mechanisms in electrostatically driven MEMS devices based on adhesion and friction measurements

Nanoscale characterization of different stiction mechanisms in electrostatically driven MEMS devices based on adhesion and friction measurements

On the influence of environment gases, relative humidity and gas purification on dielectric charging/discharging processes in electrostatically driven MEMS/NEMS devices

Evaluating and predicting lifetime in capacitive MEMS switches

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About