Lateral RF MEMS Switch Based on Surface Micromachining Process

In this paper, a novel RF MEMS switch driven by combs with low insertion loss is presented. The developed SPST RF MEMS switch with a lateral resistive contact and gold structure layer on a silicon substrate has been fabricated by surface micromachining process. The RF performance of the switch indicates an insertion loss below 0.30 dB at 20 GHz, a return loss better than 20 dB and isolation greater than 30 dB. Good RF characteristics have been achieved by the large contact area and a lateral Au-to-Au resistive contact.