TY - CONF

T1 - RF burn-in of dielectric-charging characteristics of micro-electromechanical capacitive switches

AU - Molinero, D.

AU - Palego, C.

AU - Luo, X.

AU - Hwang, J.C.

AU - Goldsmith, C.L.

PY - 2012/6/17

Y1 - 2012/6/17

N2 - We report, for the first time, the benefit of RF burn-in at power levels significantly higher than the nominal handling capacity of micro-electromechanical capacitive switches. The benefit appears to be permanent, so that, after burn-in, the switches remain less vulnerable to dielectric charging and, presumably, more reliable. It was speculated that high RF power permanently changed the bond configuration of the silicon-dioxide dielectric, which prevented charge injection under DC bias. Obviously, more detailed study is needed to elucidate the detailed burn-in mechanism. However, this initial result is very encouraging and can facilitate the application of these switches in many RF systems.

AB - We report, for the first time, the benefit of RF burn-in at power levels significantly higher than the nominal handling capacity of micro-electromechanical capacitive switches. The benefit appears to be permanent, so that, after burn-in, the switches remain less vulnerable to dielectric charging and, presumably, more reliable. It was speculated that high RF power permanently changed the bond configuration of the silicon-dioxide dielectric, which prevented charge injection under DC bias. Obviously, more detailed study is needed to elucidate the detailed burn-in mechanism. However, this initial result is very encouraging and can facilitate the application of these switches in many RF systems.

U2 - 10.1109/MWSYM.2012.6257778

DO - 10.1109/MWSYM.2012.6257778

M3 - Paper

SP - 1

EP - 3

T2 - Microwave Symposium Digest (MTT), 2012 IEEE MTT-S International, Montreal, 17-22 June 2012

Y2 - 3 January 0001

ER -