Ultra-low actuation voltage MEMS switch with tunable side wall sacrificial layer

In this paper, we propose an electrostatic driven low pull-in voltage capacitive MEMS switch with tunable side wall sacrificial layer. Tunability and controlling over side walls builds a dual-air gap (go and gs) structure in the proposed switch to obtain lower actuation voltage. Electromechanical simulation is used to design the previously known geometries of switches (with added perforations) and classify their electrical and dynamic characteristics. The simulated results indicate a very low pull-in voltage in the range of ~ 2.1 V. CMOS compatible surface micromachining process has adopted to fabricate the MEMS switch on high resistive silicon substrates with silicon nitride as a dielectric layer. Finally, the paper presents a suitable and optimized parameter set for low voltage applications bridge design. Proposed metal based switch can potentially be utilized in various ultra-low power applications with hot switching capabilities.