Latching micromagnetic relays

Ruan, M.; Shen, Jun; Wheeler, C B

doi:10.1109/84.967373

Cited by 83 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Over the past few decades, RF microelectromechanical system (MEMS) switches have attracted considerable attentions as the strongest alternatives to the conventional electrical switching components owing to their superior advantages such as low loss, low power consumption, extreme linearity and so forth. For this reason, a variety of MEMS switches have been developed with various actuations mechanisms, such as electrostatic [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][10][11][12], electromagnetic [13,14] and thermal actuations [15,16]. Among these, the electrostatic actuation is most suitable for MEMS switches due to its desirable properties of negligible power consumption, high switching speed and simple implementation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Several studies reported the electromagnetically and thermally actuated MEMS switches showing a low actuation voltage [12][13][14][15]. Although they can successfully realize MEMS switches with a low required voltage and high contact force, there are still critical drawbacks of higher power requirements for switch actuations and structural complexities of the switches compared to electrostatic switches.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Electrostatically driven low-voltage micromechanical RF switches using robust single-crystal silicon actuators

Kim

Lee

Park

et al. 2010

J. Micromech. Microeng.

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In this paper, we demonstrate an electrostatic RF MEMS switch with a low actuation voltage, which is obtained simply by optimizing the design and fabrication of the robust single-crystal silicon (SCS) actuator, as well as a uniform switch performance. Through the simple approach, the pull-in voltage of the proposed electrostatic switch could be reduced simply and efficiently to approximately 10 V without sacrificing the structural stabilities and degrading the switch performances. For a total of 68 switches on a wafer, the fabrication and measurement yields were obtained to be higher than 94 and 73%, respectively. The switch performances of 50 identical switches except for 4 initially broken and 14 non-actuated switches were successfully characterized. The measured pull-in voltage was 10.7 ± 1.5 V and that of 40 switches (80%) was as low as 12 V. Nevertheless, the 50 identical switches showed considerably good and uniform performances with little deviations in terms of the RF and pull-in voltage characteristics. In addition, self-actuating behavior of the switch was not observed up to the input power of 37 dBm although the actuation voltage was reduced considerably. Low insertion losses of 0.13 ± 0.06, 0.15 ± 0.05, 0.19 ± 0.06 and 0.2 ± 0.07 dB were acquired at 2, 5, 10 and 15 GHz, respectively. The isolation characteristics could be obtained to be 41.25 ± 0.78, 33.25 ± 0.98, 27.17 ± 0.82 and 23.57 ± 0.75 at 2, 5, 10 and 15 GHz, respectively. Numerical calculations and simulations based on the fabricated results of the switches clearly demonstrated that the performance deviations among the tested switches were mainly due to the fabrication errors and not structural deformations.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Electrostatically driven low-voltage micromechanical RF switches using robust single-crystal silicon actuators

Kim

Lee

Park

et al. 2010

J. Micromech. Microeng.

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“…The mechanical movement of the beam is obtained by applying an actuating force. This actuating force is generally of an electrostatic nature [8,9], but it can be thermal [10], piezoelectric [11], or magnetic [12]. Table 1 is showing the comparative study of the different types of actuation [8,13].…”

Section: Rf Mems Switch Control Mechanismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Study and Design of Reconfigurable Wireless and Radio- Frequency Components Based on RF MEMS for Low-Power Applications

Jmai¹,

Rajhi²,

Mendes³

et al. 2018

MEMS Sensors - Design and Application

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This chapter intends to deal with the challenging field of communication systems known as reconfigurable radio-frequency systems. Mainly, it will present and analyze the design of different reconfigurable components based on radio-frequency microelectromechanical systems (RF MEMS) for different applications. This chapter will start with the description of the attractive properties that RF MEMS structures offer, giving flexibility in the RF systems design, and how these properties may be used for the design of reconfigurable RF MEMS-based devices. Then, the chapter will discuss the design, modeling, and simulation of reconfigurable components based on both theoretical modeling and well-known electromagnetic computing tools such as ADS, CST-MWS, and HFSS to evaluate the performance of such devices. Finally, the chapter will deal with the design and performance assessment of RF MEMS-based devices. Non-radiating devices, such as phase shifter and resonators, which are very important components in the hardware RF boards, will be addressed. Also, three types of frequency reconfigurable antennas, for the three different applications (radar, satellite, and wireless communication), will be proposed and evaluated. From this study, based on theoretical design and electromagnetic computing evaluation, it has been shown that RF MEMS-based devices can be an enabling solution in the design of the multiband reconfigurable radio-frequency devices.

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“…Electrostatic MEMS switches typically require large voltages to pull down the switch, and/or require small air gaps to keep the voltages in a reasonable range (Chu et al 2007;Chan et al 2003;Lee et al 2005;Muldavin and Rebeiz 2000;Brown 1998;De and Aluru 2004). Magnetic MEMS switches are able to generate large contact forces (resulting in small contact resistances and high currentcarrying capability) over a relatively large stroke (resulting in a large air gap and therefore low off-state parasitic capacitances), but typically require large currents to hold the switch closed (Niarchos 2003;Ruan et al 2001;Bernstein et al 2004;Taylor et al 1998;Judy et al 1995;Judy and Muller 1996;Cho et al 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

High standoff dual-mode-actuation MEMS switches

2009

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MEMS switches based on a dual-mode actuation scheme that simultaneously allows for large standoff heights and low clamping voltages have been designed and fabricated. These devices are based on the use of a transient external magnetic field to bring the actuating portion of the switch close to a dielectric-coated clamping electrode, followed by application of an electrostatic clamping voltage to keep the switch closed. Since the clamping voltage is applied when the switch is closed, this voltage can be relatively small. This approach is particularly attractive for RF applications such as arrays of switches in reconfigurable aperture antennas. The arrays of switches are simultaneously closed by the magnetic field generated by an external magnetic source, then selected switches are clamped by electrostatic force using low voltages to maintain the ON state. Their utility in such an array has been demonstrated and several different design variations have been explored to improve switch performance. Contact resistance as low as 0.37 X has been achieved, with actuating field strength of 40 Gauss. These switches possess a large open state air gap (25 lm), and are able to pass high currents in excess of 1 A under low frequency or DC operation. The large OFF state impedance allows for their usage in switching applications in RF devices. Their high frequency functionality has been tested to find that their open-state impedance was identical to that of a perfect open up to 9 GHz and their RF reconfigurability has been demonstrated in a monopole/dipole test bed.

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Latching micromagnetic relays

Cited by 83 publications

References 17 publications

Electrostatically driven low-voltage micromechanical RF switches using robust single-crystal silicon actuators

Electrostatically driven low-voltage micromechanical RF switches using robust single-crystal silicon actuators

Study and Design of Reconfigurable Wireless and Radio- Frequency Components Based on RF MEMS for Low-Power Applications

High standoff dual-mode-actuation MEMS switches

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