A parametric model of low-loss RF MEMS capacitive switches

Abstract

This paper is focused on the creation of an efficient electromagnetic model of MEMS switches which operates at microwave frequencies. The switches are first characterized using a full wave analysis based on a finite element method to extract the S-parameters of the switches for different geometrical dimensions. From the S-parameter database, a scalable lumped circuit model is extracted to allow easy implementation of the switch model into commercial microwave CAD software. The lumped circuit model results are compared with published measured data as validation of our model.