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Role of the electro-thermo-mechanical multiple coupling on the operation of RF-microswitch

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Abstract

A phenomenological approach is proposed to identify some effects occurring within the structure of the microswitch conceived for radio frequency application. This microsystem is operated via a nonlinear electromechanical action imposed by the applied voltage. Unfortunately, it can be affected by residual stress, due to the microfabrication process, therefore axial and flexural behaviors are strongly coupled. This coupling increases the actuation voltage required to achieve the so-called “pull-in” condition. Moreover, temperature may strongly affect strain and stress distributions, respectively. Environmental temperature, internal dissipation of material, thermo-elastic and Joule effects play different roles on the microswitch flexural displacement. Sometimes buckling phenomenon evenly occurs. Literature show that all those issues make difficult an effective computation of “pull-in” and “pull-out” voltages or evenly distinguishing the origin of some failures detected in operation. Analysis, numerical methods and experiments are applied to an industrial test case to investigate step by step the RF-microswitch operation. Multiple electro-thermo-mechanical coupling is first modeled to have a preliminary and comprehensive description of the microswitch behavior and of its reliability. “Pull-in” and “pull-out” tests are then performed to validate the proposed models and to find suitable criteria to design the RF-MEMS.

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Acknowledgments

Authors appreciate the fundamental contribution of Prof. Aurelio Somà and Dr. Giorgio De Pasquale in the experimental activity performed at the Laboratory of Design and Testing of Microsystems of Politecnico di Torino, Italy.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Politecnico di Torino, C.so Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129, Torino, Italy

    Eugenio Brusa

  2. Department of Electrical, Management and Mechanical Engineering, University of Udine, Via delle Scienze 208, 33100, Udine, Italy

    Mircea Gheorghe Munteanu

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  1. Eugenio Brusa
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  2. Mircea Gheorghe Munteanu
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Correspondence to Eugenio Brusa.

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Brusa, E., Munteanu, M.G. Role of the electro-thermo-mechanical multiple coupling on the operation of RF-microswitch. Microsyst Technol 18, 983–995 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00542-012-1426-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00542-012-1426-z

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