This article presents the design, realization and measurement of thin-film packaged RF-MEMS switched capacitors for millimeter-wave applications. Packaging is included in the MEMS fabrication process, with silicon nitride thin film shell above MEMS structure. Thin-film packaging is done using a combination of electron beam evaporated metal and silicon nitride PECVD deposition. The package hermeticity has been evaluated after the first metal sealing layer deposition, indicating that the protective nitride shells are hermetic enough before the final PECVD passivation. The devices have been fabricated on glass substrates, allowing for further combination with low loss, millimeter-wave passive circuits. The MEMS capacitors are actuated by deflecting thin gold metal membrane towards the package dielectric layer, increasing the capacitance by a factor 3, from 25 fF to 75 fF. The device size, including its hermetic packaging, is $70\times 50\,\,\mu \text{m}^{\mathbf {2}}$ . Reliability has been evaluated, through 12-hour hold-down test measurements. [2019-0060]

中文翻译：

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玻璃基板上的零电平封装 RF-MEMS 开关电容器

本文介绍了用于毫米波应用的薄膜封装 RF-MEMS 开关电容器的设计、实现和测量。MEMS 制造过程中包含封装，在 MEMS 结构上方具有氮化硅薄膜外壳。薄膜封装是使用电子束蒸发金属和氮化硅 PECVD 沉积的组合完成的。在第一次金属密封层沉积之后评估了封装的气密性，表明在最终的 PECVD 钝化之前，保护性氮化物壳已经足够气密。这些器件是在玻璃基板上制造的，可以进一步与低损耗、毫米波无源电路结合。MEMS 电容器通过将薄金金属膜偏向封装介电层来驱动，将电容增加 3 倍，从 25 fF 到 75 fF。设备尺寸，包括其密封包装，为 $70\times 50\,\,\mu \text{m}^{\mathbf {2}}$ 。可靠性已通过 12 小时抑制测试测量进行评估。[2019-0060]