Design and Analysis of MEMS/MST Based Radio Frequency Switches

In contrast to solid-state switches, Radio Frequency switches based on MEMS / MST contain moving and contacting surfaces. Therefore, the design and analysis of such switches involves the study of multiple domains (which may or may not be coupled) such as electrostatic, mechanical, fluidic, electromagnetic, etc. This complexity provides a formidable challenge for any general- purpose modeling and analysis solver. A solution technique that couples boundary element analysis for the electrostatic domain, finite element analysis for the mechanical domain, and method-of-moments based analysis for the electromagnetic domain may be more appropriate as it can provide accurate results at much faster speed compared to conventional finite element techniques to solve all domains.