Regular Paper

Journal of Computing Science and Engineering,

Vol. 8, No. 3, September 2014, pp. 129-136

Circuit Modelling and Eigenfrequency Analysis of a Poly-Si

Based RF MEMS Switch Designed and Modelled for IEEE
802.11ad Protocol
Tejinder Singh*
Discipline of Electronics and Electrical Engineering, Lovely Professional University, Phagwara, Punjab, India
[email protected]

Farzaneh Pashaie
Department of Mechatronics, Islamic Azad University, South Branch, Tehran, Iran
[email protected]

Abstract
This paper presents the equivalent circuit modelling and eigenfrequency analysis of a wideband robust capacitive radio
frequency (RF) microelectromechanical system (MEMS) switch that was designed using Poly-Si and Au layer membrane for highly reliable switching operation. The circuit characterization includes the extraction of resistance, inductance, on and off state capacitance, and Q-factor. The first six eigenfrequencies are analyzed using a finite element
modeler, and the equivalent modes are demonstrated. The switch is optimized for millimeter wave frequencies, which
indicate excellent RF performance with isolation of more than 55 dB and a low insertion loss of 0.1 dB in the V-band.
The designed switch actuates at 13.2 V. The R, L, C and Q-factor are simulated using Y-matrix data over a frequency
sweep of 20100 GHz. The proposed switch has various applications in satellite communication networks and can also
be used for devices that will incorporate the upcoming IEEE Wi-Fi 802.11ad protocol.

Category: Smart and intelligent computing

Keywords: RF MEMS; Equivalent circuit modelling; Eigenfrequency analysis; Capacitive switch; Millimeter
wave frequencies

I. INTRODUCTION
In the last decade, various efforts have been made for
radio frequency (RF) microelectromechanical system
(MEMS) switches that are applicable to devices with
switching activities that operate in RF to millimeter wave
frequencies. MEMSs that are especially for RF applications have captured the interest of researchers from aca-

demia and industry. The RF MEMS has various advantages

like high isolation, low insertion loss, low or near-zero
power consumption, and low intermodulation distortion
over their semiconductor counterparts like the field-effect
transistor and p-i-n diode switches [1-5]. MEMS switches
suffer from some drawbacks like low switching speed
(due to mechanical deflection), high electrostatic voltage
requirements of around 2060 V for reliable switching

http://dx.doi.org/10.5626/JCSE.2014.8.3.129

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Open Access

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/
by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Received 6 December 2013; Revised 21 May 2014; Accepted 14 July 2014

*Corresponding Author

Copyright

2014. The Korean Institute of Information Scientists and Engineers

pISSN: 1976-4677 eISSN: 2093-8020

Journal of Computing Science and Engineering, Vol. 8, No. 3, September 2014, pp. 129-136

operation, low power handling capability, reliability issues

like average lifetime, fracture concerns, and packaging
constraints [6-8]. RF MEMS switches incorporate a thin
movable metal membrane, which actuates electrostatically for switching operations [9]. The lifetime of MEMS
switches is one of the primary concerns for their use in
repair-free applications like in remote places. After a few
million switching cycles the metal membrane starts to
suffer from fractures and this breakage usually occurs at
high stress areas of the thin metal membrane.
In this paper, we present the circuit characterization
and eigenfrequency analysis of a wideband robust capacitive RF MEMS switch design that incorporates a thinlayered membrane of Poly-Si and Au millimeter wave
frequencies. The switch design we present is simulated
using commercially available EM solvers. We present the
mechanical modelling viz. stress analysis that is reported
in detail in [10], and the analysis using different proportions of materials is also reported in [10]. We numerically
calculate the force distribution and equivalent circuit
parameters of the RF MEMS switch. The basic model is
taken as reference [9], and various components like the R,
L, C, Q-factor, and S-parameters are computed using the
data of a Y-matrix, over a frequency sweep of 20100
GHz. The first six eigenfrequencies are analyzed, and the
equivalent modes are presented. The extracted and fitted
RLC components of this switch over a range of frequencies divided into different frequency bands are also summarized in Section III. The proposed switch has huge
potential for use in applications that operate on millimeter waves like satellite communication networks.

requirements.
This switch incorporates a thin membrane of layered
Au and Poly-Si. A layer of 0.2 m thick Poly-Si is combined on top of a 0.5 m thick Au layer. This combination provides high elastic recovery to reduce stiction and
makes the switch more robust to handle many more switching cycles.
The switch is designed on quartz substrate due to its
better EM wave propagation capabilities on higher frequency bands [14]. A coplanar waveguide (CPW) with
wide signal line of 60 m and 40 m gap between the
ground plane is designed over the substrate to allow or
block the RF signal using thin membrane. Input and output ports of the signal line are usually coupled with coaxial cables to connect with standard RF applications. Au
material is used to design the CPW due to its better stiction with silicon nitride as dielectric over the substrate.
Fig. 1 shows the proposed RF MEMS switch with labeled
components. When the bias voltage is provided to the
electrode beneath the signal line, electrostatic force is
generated, which causes vertical deflection towards the
signal line. A dielectric layer of 0.2 m thick is used
between the membrane and signal line contact to change
the value of the capacitance.
The capacitance varies either to allow the RF signal or
to pass it through ground, i.e., block the RF signal. A
large electrode of 80 m 60 m is used for the actuation principle. The meanders help in reducing the pulldown voltage. Au is used to achieve low-voltage and
Poly-Si is used for increasing robustness of the switch;
hence, the best of both materials makes this switch reliable in high frequency applications. Fig. 2 demonstrates a
close-up view of the membrane that shows twin layers
stacked on each other. Holes are provided in the area of
membrane that usually interacts with the signal line for
the switching operation. Inclusion of holes in the membrane has huge advantagesit aids in attaining higher
switching speeds, reduction of biaxial residual stress,
reduction in air damping, and the effective mass of the
membrane decreases [9]. The dimensions of the membrane are shown in Fig. 3 and the equivalent circuit
model of the switch is shown in Fig. 4. The R, L, and C

II. DESIGN AND PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION

The operational principle of the capacitive switch is
mentioned in [11]. RF MEMS are usually actuated by the
electrostatic principle [6]. For reliability and robustness
of the switch, it is mandatory to design the switch with
thick meanders to get an optimized range between the
elastic recovery forces of metal and electrostatic voltage
requirements for switching operation. The most common
reliability issue in RF MEMS like stiction can be reduced,
if the elastic recovery forces of the membrane are higher
[12]. To overcome this issue of stiction, we have proposed
a twin-layer membrane based on Gold (Au) and Polysilicon (Poly-Si). Gold has excellent electrical conductivity,
but has low stress handling capabilities; in contrast, PolySi is a semiconductor, but has very high ultimate tensile
strength to increase reliability. Gold (Au) is commonly
used as a material for membrane design, but its ultimate
tensile stress is 100 MPa, i.e., if the stress gradient crosses
100 MPa, the membrane can easily break from the areas
under high stress. In contrast, the tensile strength of PolySi is 1.2 GPa [13] with a high Youngs modulus; thus
using Poly-Si alone can increase the actuation voltage

http://dx.doi.org/10.5626/JCSE.2014.8.3.129

Fig. 1. Switch geometry of the proposed radio frequency (RF)

microelectromechanical system switch demonstrating membrane
over coplanar waveguide (CPW) and Si3N4 dielectric layer.

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Circuit Modelling and Eigenfrequency Analysis of a Poly-Si Based RF MEMS Switch Designed and Modelled for IEEE 802.11ad Protocol

Fig. 2. Close-up view of layered Poly-Si and Au membrane, the

image showing the 0.2 m Poly-Si layer on top of 0.5 m thick
gold layer. The image shown is a close-up view taken from the
corner area of the central part of membrane.

Fig. 4. Equivalent CLR circuit model of proposed switch. The

circuit is shown for the shunt configuration of switch. Z0 are the
terminal impedances and component C is variable, the value of C
is varied by the position of metal membrane over the signal line.

Table 1. Switch specifications

Component

Fig. 3. Dimensions of layered switch membrane; the complete

membrane acquires area of 240 m 80 m.

components are in shunt configuration of transmission as

the switch is a shunt capacitive RF MEMS switch. The
capacitance is a variable component in the shunt line.
This variable component changes its value during switching. The specifications of the designed switch are given
in Table 1.

Material

Substrate

540

100

150

Quartz

Dielectric

540

100

0.5

Si3N4

CPW (G S G)

40

60

1.0

Gold

Tx Dielectric

60

40

0.2

Si3N4

Beam bottom

240

80

0.5

Gold

Beam top

240

80

0.2

Poly-Si

Meanders

70

10

0.7

Poly-Si

Meanders gap

10

10

NA

Hole size

0.7

Gap, g0

Anchors

20

20

Gold

All units are in m.

CPW: coplanar waveguide, NA: not available.

III. CIRCUIT CHARACTERIZATION

sponding fitted values are also given in Table 2. The table
is summarized for the extracted and fitted value of R, L,
and C for 60 GHz, V-band and for different frequency
ranges. The switch performance is excellent around 60 GHz.
The exact fit is computed according to the E-standards.
The extracted capacitance in both states of switch for
complete frequency sweep is shown in Fig. 5, and Fig. 6

The basic elements R, L, and C are extracted using

commercially available EM-solvers [15]. The extracted
values of these components are given in Table 2 for different frequency bands from 20100 GHz. As the switch
is a capacitive switch, the capacitance for ON-state or upstate and OFF or down-state is extracted. The correTable 2. Extracted and fitted values
Frequency
range

Extracted

Q-factor

Fitted

Cup (fF)

Cdown (pF)

R ()

L (pH)

Cup (fF)

Cdown (pF)

R ()

L (pH)

ON

OFF

V-band

26.1

1.51

0.56

96.5

27

1.5

0.56

100

27.2

19.3

60

25.6

1.52

0.59

98.1

27

1.5

0.56

100

28.5

18.3

4085

26.2

1.20

0.57

92.7

27

1.2

0.56

91

27.0

16.9

20100

27.0

1.10

0.56

88.2

27

1.1

0.56

91

26.3

15.8

80100

28.8

1.51

0.45

84.8

30

1.5

0.43

82

21.2

21.1

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Journal of Computing Science and Engineering, Vol. 8, No. 3, September 2014, pp. 129-136

Fig. 5. Capacitance in ON and OFF states of the switch that

Fig. 7. Q-Factor in ON and OFF state of switch results in a great

Q-factor of 25 in ON state and varies between 522 in OFF
state.

results in 27 fF capacitance in ON state and variable according

to the input frequency.

nal line. The capacitance depends on the ON or OFF state

of the switch. The up-state capacitance Cup for the switch
in ON state and the down-state capacitance Cdown for the
switch in OFF state can be computed by plugging the values into Eqs. (3) and (4):

indicates the series resistance and inductance. The Q-factor for ON and OFF states is also computed and is shown
in Fig. 7.
For the capacitive RF MEMS switch in shunt configuration between signal line and ground, the impedance Zs
is given by:

(4)

(5)

where, l is the length of beam, and Z0 is the characteristic

impedance of the transmission line.
Rs = Re (Zs) can also be used to estimate the series
resistance Rs from the Y-matrix.
The inductance L can be approximated from the Ymatrix data. The value of the impedance Zs is required
from Eq. (2) to compute the inductance L as:

(1)

(2)

Im ( Zs -)
L = --------------2f

The value of the capacitance depends purely on the

position of the metal membrane suspended over the sig-

http://dx.doi.org/10.5626/JCSE.2014.8.3.129

0 r wW
Cdown = ----------------td

sl
=R
-------2Z0

The impedance Zs can also be approximated from the

Y-matrix data as:
2 Zs = ----------------Y12 + Y21

(3)

where, 0 is the permittivity of free space, w and W are

the length and width of the actuation electrode, respectively, g0 is the gap between the switch membrane and
signal line, td is the thickness of the dielectric layer, and r
is the permittivity of the material. The up-state capacitance Cup is 27 fF and the down-state capacitance Cdown is
1.4 pF.
The primary factors for the calculation of the series
resistance Rs are due to the transmission line loss, and
also due to the membrane of the switch. The series resistance Rs is given as:

Fig. 6. Simulation result of resistance () and inductance (pH)

of the MEMS switch, the inductance is high from the 4080 GHz
frequency range, and resistance drops almost linearly as per the
input frequency, but lies between 0.70.4 .

1Zs = Rs + jL + --------jC

0 wW Cup = ----------------------g 0 + ( t d r )

(6)

A high Q-factor is desirable for any electronic switches,

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Circuit Modelling and Eigenfrequency Analysis of a Poly-Si Based RF MEMS Switch Designed and Modelled for IEEE 802.11ad Protocol

Table 3. Eigenfrequencies and membrane deflection

components or devices. Generally, a Q-factor of above 15

is considered good for a variety of RF MEMS switches
[9]. This proposed switch has excellent Q-factors of
above 27 in the ON state and above 15 in the OFF state as
shown in Fig. 7. The Q-factor can be computed for the
ON and OFF states of the switch as:
Im ( Y11 -)
Q = ----------------Re ( Y11 )

(7)

where, Im (Y11) and Re (Y11) are the imaginary and real

part of the two-port network, respectively, as shown in
Fig. 4.
The actuation voltage Vp required to actuate the switching mechanism can be computed using:
3
8k
Vp = -------------------g
0
270 wW

Mode

Eigenfrequency (Hz)

Mode 1

30419.406941 (30.4 kHz)

Mode 2

47039.669441 (47.0 kHz)

Mode 3

81281.166386 (81.3 kHz)

Mode 4

1.268 105 (1.27 MHz)

Mode 5

1.633 105 (1.63 MHz)

Mode 6

1.772 105 (1.77 MHz)

frequencies are at values that are whole number multiples

of the fundamental frequency. The first six eigenfrequencies are given in Table 3.
The equation of motion of a membrane that is subjected to harmonic force is considered. The harmonic
motion of the mass-spring system in a single degree of
freedom is usually modelled with a differential equation
of second-order as:

(8)

where, k is the spring constant and can be determined

using Eq. (10), w is the length of electrode, W is the width
of electrode, and g0 is the gap between signal line and
membrane. The calculated Vp for this switch is 13.2 V.

2
meff d
------x2- + eff dx
----- + keffx = Fe
dt
dt

(9)

where, meff is the effective mass of the membrane, eff is

the effective damping coefficient of the dielectric material, keff is the effective spring constant, and Fe is the electrostatic force. meff is composed of Au effective mass
meff1 = 60.47 ng and Poly-Si effective mass meff2 = 4.63 ng,
respectively, for the designed membrane. Hence, the total
meff is meff1 + meff2 that leads to meff = 65.1 ng. The effective spring constant keff is composed of k' and k''. According to [9], the biaxial residual stress component k'' can be
neglected due to the serpentine design, holes to release
the biaxial residual stress, and the use of Poly-Si (as the
stiffness of Poly-Si quite high). eff can be determined by
computing Eq. (9) by plugging all remaining values.

IV. EIGENFREQUENCY ANALYSIS

Eigenfrequency basically means the characteristic
frequency of a device or in simple words, it is the ownfrequency of the device. It can also be thought of as the
normal modes of vibrations of a system. Eigenfrequency
analysis was used to find the basic modes of vibration of
the RF MEMS switch [14]. The first six modes of the
switch are shown in Fig. 8. These frequencies can be
determined by solving the Lagrangian of the system, and
then applying the canonical equation. The deflection at
the natural frequency of the RF MEMS switch or the first
mode can be determined from Fig. 8. The series of next

Fig. 8. First six eigenmodes of designed membrane.

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Journal of Computing Science and Engineering, Vol. 8, No. 3, September 2014, pp. 129-136

plugging the values in the equations given below. To

compute the parameters in ON state, Y11x will be used,
where x = 1 for ON state and x = 0 for OFF state.

As the membrane is composed of two materials, the

spring constant k' is further composed of two components: ka for the Au material and kp for the Poly-Si. The
spring constant can be computed using:
3lb 48GJ - for n -----------------k' -------------------------------GJ
2 GJ
3
------- la + lb
la ------- la + lb n
EIx
EIx

Y2z Y211 x + Y221 x -

S11 x = ---------------------------------------( Y11 x + Yz )2 Y221 x

(10)

where, S11x is the return loss on ON or OFF state depending on the variable x, Yz = 1/Z0, Y11x = jCdown for x = 0,
i.e., in OFF state and Y11x = jCup for x = 1, i.e., in ON
state. Y21x = jCdown for x = 0 and Y21x = jCup for x =
1, i.e., in OFF and ON states, respectively. To estimate
the isolation S210 and insertion loss S211, plug the values
into:

where, n is the number of meanders in the serpentine configuration, G = E/2(1 + v) is the torsion modulus, Ix = wt3/12
is the moment of inertia and the torsion constant is usually given by:
192 t 1
iw-
- ---- ---5 tanh -------J=1
--- t3w 1 -------5
2t
3
w t=1, i

2Y221 x Yz -
S21 x = ---------------------------------------( Y11 x + Yz )2 Y221 x

(11)

t=odd

The effective spring constant keff for both components,

i.e., ka + kp, can be determined by plugging material values like the Youngs modulus E and moment of inertia Ix
into Eq. (10). The combined spring constant keff for the
membrane is 5.1 N/m.
The natural frequency of the membrane depends on the
equivalent spring constant and the effective mass, and the
natural frequency f0 is given as:
1- k----eff
f0 = ----2 m

(12)

EI
-------x

(15)

Excellent isolation above 50 dB can be achieved in the

V-band and above 40 dB from 4585 GHz. At 60 GHz,
the switch results in maximum isolation of 58 dB. The
results indicate 0.07 to 0.15 dB insertion loss in the ON
state from 4085 GHz. The return loss is in between
0.150.30 dB in the OFF state and 2540 dB for 85 GHz
and 40 GHz, respectively. The proposed switch also indicates moderate performance until 100 GHz with 35 dB of
isolation and 0.2 dB insertion loss. The S-parameters in
OFF state can be determined from the plot shown in
Fig. 9 and the S-parameters plot for the ON state is shown
in Fig. 10.
Table 4 summarises the simulated RF performance
results for the switch at different frequency bands. The
RF performance for 4060 GHz, 60100 GHz, V-band
(6075 GHz), 60 GHz, and 4585 GHz is given in the
table. The plots shown in Figs. 9 and 10 indicate the RF
performance from 20100 GHz. The typical values for

To determine the first mode of eigenfrequency f1, the

component needs to be computed first for Au and then for
Poly-Si. Then, the addition of these two factors can give
the best estimate of the desired frequency. The first mode
of frequency f1 can be determined by:
1- 15.418
f1 = -------------------2 L2

(14)

(13)

where, is the mass density (mass/length) and L is the

length of membrane.

V. RF PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS
The RF performances for the device in both switching
states are extracted by S-parameters. The data of the Smatrix is computed for the 20100 GHz frequency range
[16]. Usually isolation, return loss in OFF state, insertion
loss, and return loss in ON state are all required to examine the performance of switch in the RF region. High isolation and low insertion loss are in high demand in some
applications, and that is where RF MEMS switches come
into the picture. The proposed design gives excellent RF
performance, with low voltage requirements. The switch
is optimized for wideband millimeter wave frequencies.
The S-parameters S11, S21 in both switching states can be
computed using the extracted Y- and Z-matrix data by

http://dx.doi.org/10.5626/JCSE.2014.8.3.129

Fig. 9. Simulation of isolation (dB) and return loss (dB) in OFF

state of RF MEMS switch. The results demonstrate isolation of
57 dB at 60 GHz region and less return loss towards higher
frequencies.

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Tejinder Singh and Farzaneh Pashaie

Circuit Modelling and Eigenfrequency Analysis of a Poly-Si Based RF MEMS Switch Designed and Modelled for IEEE 802.11ad Protocol

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors would like to thank Dr. X. Liu and Dr.
Prof. G. Wang for their suggestions in circuit modelling,
and Lovely Professional University, PB for providing the
necessary resources to conduct this research work.

REFERENCES
1. C. L. Goldsmith, Z. Yao, S. Eshelman, and D. Denniston,
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New York: Wiley, 2003.
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wideband poly-Si and Au based capacitive RF MEMS
switch for millimeter wave applications, in Proceedings of
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gold and aluminum materials used in radio-frequency microelectromechanical system switches, Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials, vol. 14, no. 4, pp. 172-176,
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Fig. 10. Simulation of insertion loss (dB) and return loss (dB)
plot for the RF MEMS switch in ON state. Excellent insertion loss
of 0.1 dB and return loss of 3040 dB were observed for 50
GHz and above.
Table 4. RF performance analysis
Freq.
range

Isolation

Insertion
loss

Return loss
OFF

Return loss
ON

4060

> 30

< 0.1

< 0.2

> 30

60100

> 35

< 0.2

< 0.35

> 20

4585

> 40

< 0.15

< 0.3

> 30

60

= 57

= 0.1

= 0.22

= 32

V-band

> 55

< 0.13

< 0.25

> 30

All units are in dB.

RF MEMS switches that operate in millimeter wave frequencies usually result in isolation of approximately
20 dB and insertion loss having typical values of 0.3
0.4 dB, because on moving towards the higher frequency
spectrum, the performance start decreasing.

VI. CONCLUSION
A wideband robust capacitive RF MEMS switch is
designed and characterized. The combined layer membrane shows excellent RF performance in millimeter
wave frequencies up to 100 GHz, while requiring low
actuation voltage. The switch incorporates a twin membrane approach to increase the reliability operation of the
switch. The high Q-factor makes this switch an excellent
choice for high-frequency applications. Maximum performance can be achieved at 60 GHz; hence, the proposed switch can be used in upcoming IEEE Wi-Fi
standard 802.11ad that will operate at 60 GHz with data
transfer rate up to 7 Gbps, or in cross link communication
networks between satellites in a constellation.

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Journal of Computing Science and Engineering, Vol. 8, No. 3, September 2014, pp. 129-136

pp. 3262-3269, 2009.

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2003.
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MEMS shunt switches. Part 1: modelling, IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques, vol. 48, no. 6,
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16. T. Singh and N. Khaira, High isolation single-pole fourthrow RF MEMS switch based on series-shunt configuration, The Scientific World Journal, vol. 2014, no. 605894,
pp. 1-6, 2014.

Tejinder Singh
Tejinder Singh received his Bachelor of Technology degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering
from Lovely Professional University, PB in 2010, and Master of Technology degree in VLSI Design from Lovely
Professional University, PB in 2014. He has received an IEEE AsiaPacific Region PG Award, the IEEE M. V.
Chauhan Award, and various best paper awards. He is currently serving as a reviewer for Transactions on
Electrical and Electronic Materials of South Korea, Taylor and Francis International Journal of Electronics, and
currently serving the technical program committee of the 11th International Workshop on Mobile
Applications in Spain; International Workshop on the Design and Performance of Networks on Chip in
Canada; International Journal of Computing and Digital Systems in UK; International Journal of Innovative
and Emerging Development in UK; 2014 ICEPIT in Bahrain; and International Conference on Science and
Technology for Sustainability in Indonesia. He has published many research papers in peer-reviewed
journals and in international conferences. His research interests include the design and characterization of
RF MEMS switches, BioMEMS devices, Low-power VLSI circuits, and Memristor/Memristive systems.

Farzaneh Pashaie
Farzaneh Pashaie received her Bachelor of Science degree in Electronics Engineering from Islamic Azad
University, Saveh Branch, Tehran, Iran in 2010, and Master of Science degree in Mechatronic from Islamic
Azad University, South Branch, Tehran, Iran in 2014. She has published many research papers in peerreviewed journals and international conferences. Her research interests include RF MEMS, VLSI circuits and
systems, and Mechatronics and brain interfacing electrodes design and characterization using a
Multiphysics environment.

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Tejinder Singh and Farzaneh Pashaie