Mechanical integrity and behavior of thin films and their applications in MEMS

Electric actuated thin films are widely used in micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) such as radio frequency switches (RF-switches), micro-pumps and valves, and electrostatic actuators. This dissertation will focus on the operation of a MEMS-RF-switch. In a typical MEMS-RF-switch, a mechanically suspended 1-D rectangular or 2-D axisymmetric thin film is pulled by an electrostatic voltage (V₀) applied to an electrode-pad directly underneath. When V₀ exceeds a certain pull-in threshold, V₀*, the thin film makes direct contact with the pad so that either an on or off signal is induced, and when the voltage is removed, the thin film resumes its original undeformed configuration. To understand the device operation and to optimize the design parameters (e.g., dimension of the thin film), it is necessary to construct a rigorous elastic model for the electromechanical interaction --Introduction, page 1