Failure Mechanisms and Reliability Analysis of RF MEMS Switches

RF MEMS switches have attracted widespread attention in recent years. Compared to PIN diodes and FET switches, RF MEMS switches have many advantages including low insertion loss, high isolation, low power consumption, high linearity, small size, low cost, wide band and easy integration. In this paper, the working principle of RF MEMS switches is introduced. Then, the failure mechanisms and reliability analysis of the RF MEMS capacitive switches are introduced from dielectric charging, temperature and pull-in voltage. While the failure mechanisms and reliability analysis of the ohmic RF MEMS switches are introduced from material, pull-in voltage, temperature and structure. In this paper, various recent patents to improve the reliability of the RF MEMS switches are also presented and discussed. The factors affecting the reliability of the RF MEMS switches are summarized and several methods are proposed to improve the reliability of the RF MEMS switches. Finally, the current and future developments of the RF MEMS switches are discussed in this paper.