Dual Beam Actuation of Piezoelectric AlN RF MEMS Switches Integrated with AlN Contour-mode Resonators

Nipun Sinha, University of Pennsylvania
Rashed Mahamameed, University of Pennsylvania
Chengjie Zuo, University of Pennsylvania
Marcelo B. Pisani, University of Pennsylvania
Carlos R. Perez, University of Pennsylvania
Gianluca Piazza, University of Pennsylvania

Abstract

This work reports on piezoelectric Aluminum Nitride (AlN) based dual-beam RF MEMS switches that have been monolithically integrated with AlN contour-mode resonators. The dual-beam switch design presented in this paper intrinsically compensates for the residual stress in the deposited films, requires low actuation voltage (5-20 V), facilitates active pull-off to open the switch and fast switching times (1 to 2 µsec). This work also presents the combined response (cascaded S-parameters) of a resonator and a switch that were co-fabricated on the same substrate. The response shows that the resonator can be effectively turned on and off by the switch. A post-CMOS compatible process was used for fabrication of both the switches and the resonators. The single-chip RF solution presented herein constitutes an unprecedented step forward towards the realization of compact, low loss and integrated multi-frequency RF front-ends.