A Measurement Procedure of Technology-related Model Parameters for Enhanced RF-MEMS Design

The accurate design of Micro-Electro-Mechanical-Systems (MEMS) for Radio Frequency (RF) architectures (e.g., reconfigurable transceivers) relies on suitable models describing the static and, above all, the dynamic electromechanical and electromagnetic behaviour of moveable structures. Such models usually include multiple parameters, whose values depend on the adopted manufacturing technology, as well as the uncertainty sources affecting the process itself. As a consequence, measuring the technology-related model parameters of a given class of MEMS structures is essential to estimate and to reduce, at an early design stage, possible mismatches between simulation results and device performances. In order to address this issue, in this paper we describe a procedure to measure the parameters describing the behaviour of RF-MEMS switches that are most severely affected by residual mechanical stress and surface roughness. The validity of the proposed methodology is confirmed by the good accordance between simulation and experimental results. © 2009 IEEE.