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Perforated serpentine membrane with AlN as dielectric material shunt capacitive RF MEMS switch fabrication and characterization

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Abstract

In this communication, we have designed, simulated, performance improved, fabricated and characterized a shunt capacitive RF MEMS switch with perforated serpentine membrane (Au). Fabrication is done using surface micromachining with four masks. AlN dielectric material of 50 nm thickness is offering high isolation of − 58.5 dB at 31.5 GHz, and incorporation of perforation to the membrane the switch insertion loss is very low i.e., − 0.4 dB. The perforated serpentine membrane with non-uniform meanders of 500 nm thickness using Au material is helped to reduce the actuation voltage, the fabricated switch is requiring 4.5 V actuation voltage. DC sputtering PVD is used to deposit metal (Au) and dielectric (AlN) thin Films. S1813 photoresist is used as a sacrificial layer and the membrane structure is released using piranha, IPA and critical point drying (Pressure 1260 Psi, Temperature 31 °C).

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Acknowledgements

This Research was performed using the facilities at CeNSE, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, Funded by Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Govt. of India.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam Research Forum, Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, Andhra Loyola Institute of Engineering and Technology, Vijayawada, 520008, Andhra Pradesh, India

    Lakshmi Narayana Thalluri, Appala Raju Kanakala & P. Bose Babu

  2. MEMS Research Center, Department of ECE, Koneru Lakshmaiah Educational Foundation (Deemed to be University), Green Fields, Vaddeswaram, 522502, Guntur, India

    Koushik Guha & K. Girija Sravani

  3. National MEMS Design Center, Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Silchar, 788010, Assam, India

    K. Srinivasa Rao & K. Girija Sravani

  4. Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, CMRCET, Kandlakoya, Hyderabad, Telangana, India

    G. Venkata Hari Prasad

  5. Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, D V R and Dr. H S MIC College of Technology, Kanchikacherla, AP, India

    K. S. R. Sastry

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  1. Lakshmi Narayana Thalluri
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Correspondence to Lakshmi Narayana Thalluri.

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Thalluri, L.N., Guha, K., Srinivasa Rao, K. et al. Perforated serpentine membrane with AlN as dielectric material shunt capacitive RF MEMS switch fabrication and characterization. Microsyst Technol 26, 2029–2041 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00542-020-04755-3

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