METAL TO METAL AND CAPACITIVE CONTACT RF MEMS SHUNT SWITCH STRUCTURES
H. I. ATASOY, K. TOPALLI, M.UNLU, I. ISTANBULLUOGLU, E. U. TEMOCIN, O. BAYRAKTAR, S. DEMIR, O. A. CIVI, S. KOC, T. AKIN

Abstract. This paper presents a novel shunt metal-tometal contact switch and an inductively tuned capacitive shunt switch. The switch structures are fabricated using a surface micromachining process with two metals and an isolation dielectric. In the metal-to-metal contact switch design it is possible to choose the actuation voltage of the switch without perturbing the RF characteristic of the switch. Moreover power handling capability of the design is increased and self actuation can be eliminated with the proper selection of the bridge. The other design, inductively tuned shunt switch, employs the idea of tuning the resonant frequency of the isolation characteristics to X-band by inserting sufficiently high bridge inductance using recesses in the grounds and meanders on the bridge.