Robustness of RF MEMS capacitive switches in Harsh Environments

RF MEMS switches have evolved significantly since the early days of testing unpackaged devices in an uncontrolled environment with failure modes that could only be guessed at. Today, MEMS switch technology has effective, RF-friendly wafer-level packaging, demonstrated temperature robustness, and failure modes that can be characterized and modeled from accelerated testing. This presentation overviews the advances in packaging, reliability, and environmental robustness for RF MEMS switches made on DARPA's HERMIT program. It also includes more recent developments in novel nanostructured switch dielectrics, CMOS co-integration, intelligent CMOS control, and operation of RF MEMS in adverse thermal and radiation environments.