Investigation of the electrical contact behaviors in Au-to-Au thin-film contacts for RF MEMS switches

Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering

Volumn 18, Issue 10, 2008, Pages

  Kwon, Hyouk ^a,b   Jang, Seong Soo ^a   Park, Yong Hee ^a   Kim, Tae Sik ^a   Kim, Yong Dae ^a   Nam, Hyo Jin ^a   Joo, Young Chang ^b  

^a LGE Advanced Research Institute   (South Korea)

^b Seoul National University   (South Korea)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

CONTACT RESISTANCE; CONTACTS (FLUID MECHANICS); DEFORMATION; ELECTRIC CONTACTS; ELECTROMECHANICAL DEVICES; HARDNESS; MAGNETIC FILMS; MEMS; MICROELECTROMECHANICAL DEVICES; MOLECULAR BEAM EPITAXY; PHOTORESISTS; PLASTIC DEFORMATION; SUBSTRATES; SURFACE ROUGHNESS; SURFACES; THIN FILM DEVICES;

A STABLES; AU FILMS; CONTACT BEHAVIORS; CONTACT FORCES; CONTACT MATERIALS; CONTACT MEASUREMENTS; CURRENT FLOWS; DESIGN FACTORS; EFFECTIVE CONTACTS; ELECTRICAL CONTACTS; HARD SUBSTRATES; HIGH CURRENTS; MAJOR FACTORS; METAL SOFTENING; PLASTIC DEFORMATION BEHAVIORS; PRINCIPAL FACTORS; RADIO FREQUENCY MICROELECTROMECHANICAL SYSTEMS; RESISTANCE BEHAVIORS; RF-MEMS; SATURATED REGIMES; SMOOTH SURFACES; SOFTENING TEMPERATURES; THICKNESS EFFECTS;

GOLD;

EID: 58149327374     PISSN: 09601317     EISSN: 13616439     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1088/0960-1317/18/10/105010     Document Type: Article

References (32)

1. Rebeiz G M and Muldavin J B 2001 RF MEMS switches and switch circuits IEEE Microw. Mag. 2 59-71
2. Duffy S, Bozler C, Rabe S, Knecht J, Travis L, Wyatt P, Keast C and Gouker M 2001 MEMS microswitches for reconfigurable microwave circuitry IEEE Microw. Wireless Comp. Lett. 11 106-8
3. Lee H C, Park J Y and Bu J U 2005 Piezoelectrically actuated RF MEMS DC contact switches with low voltage operation IEEE Microw. Wireless Comp. Lett. 15 202-4
4. Chan R, Lesnick R, Becher D and Feng M 2003 Low-actuation voltage RF shunt switch with cold switching lifetime of seven billion cycles IEEE J. Microelectromech. Syst. 12 713-9
5. Majumder S, Lampen J, Morrison R and Maciel J 2003 MEMS switches IEEE Instrum. Meas. Mag. 6 12-5
6. Rebeiz G M 2003 RF MEMS Theory, Design, and Applications (New Jersey: Wiley)
7. Kruglick J J and Pister S J 1999 Lateral MEMS microcontact considerations IEEE J. Microelectromech. Syst. 8 264-71
8. Jensen B D, Chow L L W, Huang K, Saitou K, Volakis J L and Kurabayashi K 2005 Effect of nanoscale heating on electrical transport in RF MEMS switch contacts IEEE J. Microelectromech. Syst. 14 935-45
9. Hyman D and Mehregany M 1999 Contact physics of gold microcontacts for MEMS switches IEEE Trans. Compon. Packag. Technol. 22 357-64
10. Patton S T and Zabinski J S 2005 Fundamental studies of Au contacts in MEMS RF switches Tribol. Lett. 18 215-30
11. Schimkat J 1999 Contact measurements providing basic design data for microrelay actuators Sensors Actuators A 73 138-43
12. Gregori G and Clarke D R 2006 The interrelation between adhesion, contact creep, and roughness on the life of gold contacts in radio-frequency microswitches J. Appl. Phys. 100 094904
13. Majumder S, McGruer N E and Adams G G 2005 Adhesion and contact resistance in an electrostatic MEMS microswitch Proc. 18th IEEE MEMS pp 215-8
14. Coutu R A Jr, Reid J R, Cortez R, Strawser R E and Kladitis P E 2006 Microswitches with sputtered Au, AuPd, Au-on-AuPt, and AuPtCu alloy electric contacts IEEE Trans. Compon. Packag. Technol. 29 341-9
15. Mcgruer N E, Adams G G, Chen L, Guo Z J and Du Y 2006 Mechanical, thermal, and material influences on ohmic-contact-type MEMS switch operation Proc. 19th IEEE MEMS pp 230-3
16. Yang Z, Lichtenwalner D, Morris A, Menzel S, Nauenheim C, Gruverman A, Krim J and Kingon A I 2007 A new test facility for efficient evaluation of MEMS contact materials J. Micromech. Microeng. 17 1788-95
17. Oberhammer J and Stemme G 2006 Active opening force and passive contact force electrostatic switches for soft metal contact materials IEEE J. Microelectromech. Syst. 15 1235-42
18. Ma Q, Tran Q, Chou T A, Heck J, Bar H, Kant R and Rao V 2007 Metal contact reliability of RF MEMS switches Proc. SPIE 6463 646305
19. Kwon H, Choi D J, Park J H, Lee H C, Park Y H, Kim Y D, Nam H J and Joo Y C 2007 Contact materials and reliability for high power RF MEMS switches Proc. 20th IEEE MEMS pp 231-4
20. Holm R 1967 Electric Contacts: Theory and Applications (Berlin: Springer)
21. Slade P G 1999 Electrical Contacts Principles and Applications (New York: Dekker)
22. Sharvin Y V 1965 A possible method for studying Fermi surfaces Sov. Phys.-JETP 21 655-6
23. Wexler G 1966 The size effect and the non-local Boltzmann transport equation in orifice and disk geometry Proc. Phys. Soc. 89 927-41
24. Greenwood J A and Williamson J B P 1966 Contact of nominally flat surfaces Proc. R. Soc. A 295 300-19
25. Chang W R, Etsion I and Bogy D B 1987 An elastic-plastic model for the contact of rough surfaces J. Tribol. 109 257-63
26. Majumder S, McGruer N E, Adams G G, Zavracky P M, Morrison R H and Krim J 2001 Study of contacts in an electrostatically actuated microswitch Sensors Actuators A 93 19-26
27. Yan W and Komvopoulos K 1998 Contact analysis of elastic-plastic fractal surfaces J. Appl. Phys. 84 3617-24
28. Saha R and Nix W D 2002 Effects of the substrate on the determination of thin film mechanical properties by nanoindentation Acta Mater. 50 23-38
29. Coutu R A Jr, Kladitis P E, Cortez R, Strawser R E and Crane R L 2004 Selecting metal alloy electric contact materials for MEMS switches J. Micromech. Microeng. 14 1157-64
30. Pruitt B L, Park W T and Kenny T W 2004 Measurement system for low force and small displacement contacts IEEE J. Microelectromech. Syst. 13 220-9
31. Timsit R S 1999 Electrical contact resistance: properties of stationary interfaces IEEE Trans. Compon. Packag. Technol. 22 85-98
32. Pashley M D and Pethica J B 1985 The role of surface forces in metal-metal contacts J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 3 757-61