Nanocrystalline diamond RF MEMS capacitive switch

Balachandran, Shreyas; Hoff, D. M.; Kumar, Ashish; Weller, Thomas M.

doi:10.1109/mwsym.2009.5166032

Cited by 7 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…Additionally, it has been shown that these grain boundaries in NCD and UNCD can be doped with hydrogen, making them excellent leaky dielectric materials, and their use in radio frequency-MEMS capacitive switches as an insulating dielectric has been demonstrated. 53,54 In case of UNCD, the charging and discharging time constants are measured to be 100 μS, five to six orders of magnitude faster than those of conventional insulating dielectric films, and 12 billion cycles of operations have been demonstrated. 54 These results demonstrate a new paradigm in MEMS switch operation, and for the first time, this offers the possibility of operating capacitive MEMS switches almost continuously "on" without an adverse effect on switch reliability.…”

Section: Mems/nems Applications Of Uncd and Ncd Resonatorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ultrananocrystalline and Nanocrystalline Diamond Thin Films for MEMS/NEMS Applications

Sumant¹,

Auciello²,

Carpick³

et al. 2010

MRS Bull.

128

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There has been a tireless quest by the designers of micro- and nanoelectro mechanical systems (MEMS/NEMS) to find a suitable material alternative to conventional silicon. This is needed to develop robust, reliable, and long-endurance MEMS/NEMS with capabilities for working under demanding conditions, including harsh environments, high stresses, or with contacting and sliding surfaces. Diamond is one of the most promising candidates for this because of its superior physical, chemical, and tribomechanical properties. Ultrananocrystalline diamond (UNCD) and nanocrystalline diamond (NCD) thin films, the two most studied forms of diamond films in the last decade, have distinct growth processes and nanostructures but complementary properties. This article reviews the fundamental and applied science performed to understand key aspects of UNCD and NCD films, including the nucleation and growth, tribomechanical properties, electronic properties, and applied studies on integration with piezoelectric materials and CMOS technology. Several emerging diamond-based MEMS/NEMS applications, including high-frequency resonators, radio frequency MEMS and photonic switches, and the first commercial diamond MEMS product—monolithic diamond atomic force microscopy probes—are discussed.

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Section: Mems/nems Applications Of Uncd and Ncd Resonatorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ultrananocrystalline and Nanocrystalline Diamond Thin Films for MEMS/NEMS Applications

Sumant¹,

Auciello²,

Carpick³

et al. 2010

MRS Bull.

128

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“…Moreover, the effects of accelerated stress on the pull-in voltage of nanocrystalline diamond switches are reported to be practically insignificant [5]. Finally, MEMS switches have been found to exhibit satisfactory RF performance over a wide frequency range [8,9].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Electrical assessment of diamond MIM capacitors and modeling of MEMS capacitive switch discharging

Michalas¹,

Koutsoureli²,

Saada³

et al. 2014

J. Micromech. Microeng.

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HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access archive for the deposit and dissemination of scientific research documents, whether they are published or not. The documents may come from teaching and research institutions in France or abroad, or from public or private research centers. L'archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, émanant des établissements d'enseignement et de recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires publics ou privés.

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“…No switch reliability was reported [60]. UNCD UNCD, ε r ≈ 5.2, is even leakier than NCD, about five orders of magnitude more than SiN x .…”

Section: Sin Xmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…It was recognized early on that a suitable dielectric should either be so 'perfect' that no significant charging can take place during the operational life of the device, or it should be so leaky that accumulated charge leaks away immediately upon the removal of the stressing voltage, as described in a Texas Instruments patent [47]. Many materials have been evaluated for their suitability as an RF MEMS switch dielectric, such as several types of SiN x [40,41,[48][49][50][51][52], SiO 2 [53,54], high-k dielectrics, such as Ta 2 O 5 [55,56] and HfO 2 and oxynitride [57,58], a composite dielectric with carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in SiN x [59], and even nanocrystalline diamond (NCD) [60] and ultrananocrystalline diamond (UNCD) [61].…”

Section: The Development and Characterization Of High-performance Die...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Capacitive RF MEMS switch dielectric charging and reliability: a critical review with recommendations

Spengen

2012

J. Micromech. Microeng.

103

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This paper presents a comprehensive review of the reliability issues hampering capacitive RF MEMS switches in their development toward commercialization. Dielectric charging and its effects on device behavior are extensively addressed, as well as the application of different dielectric materials, improvements in the mechanical design and the use of advanced actuation waveforms. It is concluded that viable capacitive RF MEMS switches with a great chance of market acceptance preferably have no actuation voltage across a dielectric at all, contrary to the ‘standard’ geometry. This is substantiated by the reliability data of a number of dielectric-less MEMS switch designs. However, a dielectric can be used for the signal itself, resulting in a higher Con/Coff ratio than that one would be able to achieve in a switch without any dielectric. The other reliability issues of these devices are also covered, such as creep, RF-power-related failures and packaging reliability. This paper concludes with a recipe for a conceptual ‘ideal’ switch from a reliability point of view, based on the lessons learned.

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Nanocrystalline diamond RF MEMS capacitive switch

Cited by 7 publications

References 14 publications

Ultrananocrystalline and Nanocrystalline Diamond Thin Films for MEMS/NEMS Applications

Ultrananocrystalline and Nanocrystalline Diamond Thin Films for MEMS/NEMS Applications

Electrical assessment of diamond MIM capacitors and modeling of MEMS capacitive switch discharging

Capacitive RF MEMS switch dielectric charging and reliability: a critical review with recommendations

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