Innovative Manufacturing of Low-Cost RF MEMS

"Recent advances in electronic device technology, specifically microelectromechanical systems for RF frequencies (RF MEMS), have resulted in the development of near-ideal electronic switches for controlling and routing RF energy. These switches requirenegligible power consumption, have extremely low insertion loss, and extremely high linearity, which far exceeds that obtainable with pin diode or GaAs FET switch technology. The power reductions over pin diode technology, and size and weight reductionsover ferrite phase shifters offer dramatic improvements in prime power consumption, size, and weight for future military missions, especially for airborne and space-based systems.Though RF MEMS have demonstrated world-class performance in phase shifters and filters, they still require further development. Currently, there are three major issues at the forefront of RF MEMS development: cost, reliability, and packaging. Toameliorate the cost and reliability issues, during Phase I MEMtronics will: 1) Investigate alternative, low-cost manufacturing approaches to fabricating RF MEMS devices; 2) Develop a process technology roadmap for implementing these potential low-costmanufacturing approaches; and 3) Develop a first order manufacturing cost model. During Phase II, MEMtronics will demonstrate manufacturing and design improvements which will lead to a 5-10X reduction in cost. Anticipated benefits of the proposedmanufacturing techniques f