A study of the self-actuation reliability issue in high-power RF MEMS

Radio-Frequency Micro-Electro-Mechanical-Systems (RF MEMS) are devices with great potential to support high RF power applications such as airport radars and satellite communications. Considering the high-power operation of RF MEMS, the so-called self-actuation effect constitutes maybe the most fundamental reliability aspect to be addressed. This work aims to present a straightforward experimental study focusing on the self-actuation of bridge type RF MEMS capacitive switches fabricated in shunt configuration and on coplanar waveguide topology. Bearing in mind the already available knowledge in the field, the study presents a direct monitoring of the self-actuation emphasizing on the importance of the RF signal pulsing scheme. The results are analyzed and discussed in conjunction with typical S-parameters and Capacitance-Voltage characteristics and reveal the importance for considering the pulsing scheme, in parallel to other device details, when assessing the power handling capabilities of RF MEMS capacitive switches. In addition, the work demonstrates shunt RF MEMS capacitive switches that (depending on the pulsing scheme) withstand self-actuation from signal that exceed 25 W of RF pulsed power in the X-band. • RF MEMS operating under high RF power need to address additional reliability challenges • Self-actuation is maybe the most fundamental one • The pulsing scheme is very critical when discussing about the operation limit • The technology presented demonstrated successful RF Pulsed power handling up to (or more than) 25 W • The technology presented can be monolithically integrated with high power MMICs