Design and Simulation of low actuation voltage Cantilever RF MEMS switches suitable for Reconfigurable antenna applications

Abstract: This paper presents a novel cantilever based RF MEMS series switch. The cantilever is of a dielectric material to prevent crosstalk and for isolation between the RF and DC signal. This switch has low actuation voltage and good RF performance in the frequency range from 2 to 12 GHz. Low actuation voltages are achieved by varying the spring constant of the beam. The spring constant of the beam can be varied by varying the geometry of the beam. We have introduced geometrical variations in the beam design that have led to low actuation voltage and good RF performance. A meander shaped beam is proposed which gives the least actuation voltage. The meanders in the beam reduce the spring constant without affecting the RF performance of the switch. The proposed design has a very low Pull in voltage of 6.64V. The RF performance of the switch shows that the Return loss is-25.65dB at 9.8GHz.The isolation is about-64.02dB and the insertion loss is about -0.2065dB at 9.7GHz