A 25 THz $F_{CO}$ (6.3 fs $R_{ON}*C_{OFF}$) Phase-Change Material RF Switch Fabricated in a High Volume Manufacturing Environment with Demonstrated Cycling > 1 Billion Times

Abstract

Two different sized layouts of four-terminal phase-change material (PCM) RF switches fabricated in a 200 mm silicon high volume manufacturing environment are presented. Both layouts have with a record high <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$F_{co}$</tex> of 25 THz. Layout-A, has an <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$R_{ON}$</tex> of 2.3 Ω and a <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$C_{OFF}$</tex> of 2.7 fF while Layout-B has an <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$R_{ON}$</tex> of 0.82 Ω and a <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$C_{OFF}$</tex> of 7.7 fF. Likewise, record <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$R_{ON}*C_{OFF}$</tex> values of 6.2 fs and 6.3 fs, have been demonstrated for the A and B switch layouts, respectively. Both layouts show minimal changes to <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$R_{ON}$</tex> or actuation voltage when cycled 10 million times. Also, a Layout-A device was cycled 1 billion times, demonstrating the ability of this new class of RF switch to be used in high endurance applications.