Mechanical contact in system-level models of electrostatically actuated RF-MEMS switches: experimental analysis and modeling

Three different multi-energy domain coupled system-level models are used to simulate the closing and opening transients of a respective ohmic contact type RF-MEMS switch. The comparison of simulated and measured data shows that, due to the presence of multiple structural modes, none of the system-level models is able to capture exactly the initial closing and contact phase whilst dynamic pull-in. The system-level model, that uses a mechanical submodel based on modal superposition, produces the result closest to the real situation. Notably, the effective residual air gap, assumed whilst contact between the membrane with high surface roughness and the contact pads of the switch, is the most influential parameter in the simulation of the closing transient, as this parameter strongly affects the air damping on the device during pull-in. This finding demonstrates that a reliable model of air damping is a vital prerequisite for the predictive simulation of pull-in and pull-out transients.