RF Microwave Switches Based on Reversible Metal-Semiconductor Transition Properties of VO₂Thin Films: An Attractive Way To Realise Simple RF Microelectronic Devices

Abstract

Microwave switches in both shunt and series configurations have been developed using the semiconductor to metal (SC-M) transition of vanadium dioxide (VO 2 ) thin films deposited by in situ pulsed laser deposition on C-plane sapphire and SiO 2 /Si substrates. The influence of geometrical parameters such as the length of the switch is shown. The VO 2 -based switches exhibit up to 30-40 dB average isolation of the radio-frequency (RF) signal over a very wide frequency band (500 MHz-35 GHz) with weak insertion losses, when thermally activated. Furthermore, they can be electrically activated. Finally, these VO 2 -based switches are integrated in the fabrication of innovative tunable band-stop filters which consist of a transmission line coupled with four U-shaped resonators and operate in the 9-11 GHz frequency range. Its tunability is demonstrated using electrical activation of each VO 2 -based switch.

Fabrication of vanadium dioxide thin films and application of its thermochromic and photochromic nature in self-cleaning: A review

“…113 These multifunctional characteristics can be integrated into the different layers of the film and make it applicable to headway communication, defense, and space networks. 114 The thermochromic property of VO 2 has also made it suitable for thermoregulating applications such as heat sensors and s solar energy control surfaces. These properties applied on textile surfaces have shown better durability, great super-hydrophobicity, and self-cleaning.…”

Exploiting the Semiconductor-Metal Phase Transition of VO2 Materials: a Novel Direction towards Tuneable Devices and Systems for RF-Microwave Applications

“…We obtained temperature activated switching functions (in both shunt and series configurations) with relatively low losses and more than 25 dB transmission variations between the ON/OFF states, on a very large bandwidth (50 MHz-35 GHz) Dumas-Bouchiat et al, 2009). The concept was successfully implemented for more complex devices, such as tuneable band stop filters operating around 10 GHz in the microwave frequency domain (Givernaud et al, 2008).…”

Dynamically controlled plasmonic nano-antenna phased array utilizing vanadium dioxide [Invited]

“…Consequently, and due to its picosecond scale transition time [36] numerous VO 2 based applications have been proposed . Among these are optical memory cells [37], photonic and plasmonic modulators [38], RF switches in the microwave range [39] and fast-switching mirrors for laser pulse shaping [40]. Another useful property compared to other PCMs (e.g.…”