Cantilever Beam Metal-Contact MEMS Switch

Abstract

We present a new design of a miniature RF microelectromechanical system (MEMS) metal-contact switch and investigate various aspects associated with lowering the pull-down voltage and overcoming the stiction problem. Lowering the pull-down voltage in this design is based on reducing the spring constant by changing the cantilever beam geometry of the RF MEMS switch, and the stiction problem is overcome by a simple integrated method using two tiny posts located on the substrate at the free end of the cantilever beam.