rf-microwave switches based on reversible semiconductor-metal transition of VO2 thin films synthesized by pulsed-laser deposition

Abstract

Microwave switching devices based on the semiconductor-metal transition of VO2 thin films were developped on two types of substrates (C-plane sapphire and SiO2∕Si), and in both shunt and series configurations. Under thermal activation, the switches achieved up to 30–40dB average isolation of the radio-frequency (rf) signal on 500MHz–35GHz frequency band with weak insertion losses. These VO2-based switches can be electrically activated with commutation times less than 100ns, which make them promising candidates for realizing efficient and simple rf switches.