High-Performance Integrated RF-MEMS: Part 1-The Process

RF MEMS have been pursued for more than a decade as a solution to high-performance on-chip fixed, tunable and switchable passives.However,the implementation of RF-MEMS into products has remained elusive.This is partly due to special-purpose processes that only supported a narrow application field,in many cases optimized for single devices.This prevented aggregation of volumes to justify the manufacturing infrastructure of even a single production foundry.This paper presents a single process that has been implemented in multiple foundries and highlights a wide range of high-performance devices including switches,inductors,varactors,and phase-shifters that have been or are being built using this process.This process thus forms the foundation for a wide range of reconfigurable and tunable RF passive circuits