Fabrication of an on-Wafer Package for RF MEMS Switches

F. BARRIERE, A. CRUNTEANU, A. BESSAUDOU, A. POTHIER, F. COSSET and P.BLONDY

XLIM UMR 6172, Université de Limoges/CNRS, 123 rue Albert Thomas, 87060 Limoges, Cedex, France

Abstract. Because they have moving parts, or because they need to work in a specific atmosphere (vacuum, inert gas…), micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) are not compatible with integrated circuit packaging technologies. So, in order to accelerate commercialization of RF MEMS devices, the development of packaging technologies is one of the most critical issues that should be solved. A process has been developed to effectively package RF MEMS switches using a technique called wafer level micro encapsulation. This technology is designed to be compatible with high performance RF MEMS capacitive switch fabrication. This approach has the potential for obtaining lower loss and better performance at high frequencies. The measured performances of an encapsulated MEMS device are characterized by a transmission loss of 0.4 dB and a return loss below -17 dB.