Integrating Solid State Protection with a RF-MEMS Switch for Achieving ESD Robustness

The RF-MEMS (MicroElectroMechanical System) switch brings together the benefit of 0 Hz/DC precision and wideband RF performance in a small, surface-mountable form factor. The ESD (Electrostatic Discharge) sensitivity of this device can be a barrier for the adoption of RF-MEMS switches in certain applications, as sensitivity of this type of device to damage during assembly and end-application handling can be pervasive. This paper addresses this limitation in RF-MEMS applications, while preserving the benefits of the RF-MEMS performance, by integrating in a SIP (system-in-a-package) optimized RF solid-state ESD protection elements along with the RF switch. This is demonstrated with a device achieving insertion loss of -0.5 dB at 6 GHz with a -3 dB bandwidth of up to 13 GHz. Isolation performance of -20 dB is also demonstrated at 6 GHz. The integrated RF-MEMS SIP achieves industry leading ESD compliance levels of 3,000V HBM (Human Body Model) and 1,250V FICDM (Field-Induced Charged Device Model).