A compact DC-10 GHz SP7T RF MEMS switch

Abstract : This paper presents a compact SP7T RF MEMS switch based on symmetrically designed radial series switches, in an area of 470 × 470 µm2 (not including the CPW port transmission lines). The SP7T radial switch achieves a simulated contact and release force of 0.3 mN for an actuation voltage of 95 V. The switch achieves an isolation of 50-19 dB and an insertion loss of 0.3-1.2 dB at 0.1-10 GHz. The switching time is ∼10 µs. A cold-switched reliability larger than 108 cycles with an RF power of 100 mW and 300 mW has been achieved, which is the required power for 3G and 4G systems. The application areas are in high performance compact switching networks for wireless systems. To our knowledge, this represents the most compact SP7T RF MEMS switch achieved to-date.