The Effect of Loading Type, Anchoring Type, and Material Selection on a MEMS Switch Design

Radio Frequency Microelectromechanical (RF MEMS) switches proved to be a good potential to replace conventional microelectronic switches in telecommunication applications. An analytical approach was carried out in this paper to calculate the effect of loading type, anchoring type, and material selection on the performance of a MEMS switch. It is found that the location of the load has a large effect on the switch performance and beam characteristics (electrostatic force, pull-down voltage, mechanical restoring force... etc). In addition, the selection of the anchor type as well as the method of connecting the MEMS switch to the circuit has a significant effect on the switch design and performance. The effect of anchoring type and design of the switch (in the case of cantilever and fixed-fixed beam) is discussed. Finally, the effect of the MEMS material type on the design of MEMS switches was investigated to demonstrate its effect on the switching time, the force required to pull the switch down, and the pull-down voltage.