Long-term lifetime prediction for RF-MEMS switches

Time to failure estimations of RF-MEMS (radio-frequency microelectromechanical system) switches under prolonged actuation is particularly interesting for satellite applications, where the devices have to retain their functionality for years. At present, a well-assessed methodology to predict RF-MEMS lifetime is still lacking, probably because, in the case of MEMS, failure may originate from either electrical or mechanical sources. Temperature is the most common failure accelerating factor, but it accelerates all failure mechanisms at the same time. In this paper, we take into account the effect of temperature on three different failure mechanisms, namely charge trapping, mechanical creep, and contact degradation. Short-term and long-term continuous actuation measurements for an ohmic clamped–clamped switch are reported and analyzed, showing that failure is strongly accelerated by temperature in the range of temperatures investigated. The maximum temperature exploitable is, however, quite low, around 75 °C, because of structural modifications due to internal stress variations and buckling. Based on the experimental data, a prediction model is presented and discussed. While failure at 55 °C has been measured after a few days, the extrapolated lifetimes at 25 °C are around five years. Contact deterioration has been found to be the reason of failure, but the switch fails only when the spring constant has been sufficiently lowered by mechanical creep.