Design and simulation of a high isolation RF MEMS shunt capacitive switch for C-K band

This paper presents a wide band RF MEMS capacitive switch. The LC resonant frequency is reduced from mm wave to X band frequencies at down-state by using a meander type membrane, with the frequency band is being increased by adding two short high impedance lines at both ends of coplanar waveguide (CPW). Moreover, this acts as T-match circuit in up-state position and improves the matching. Simulation results demonstrate that the capacitance ratio reduces from 50 to 21.4, S21 and S11 are less than −10dB for the entire frequency band at down-state and up-state. Also, a comprehensive and complete electric model of the switch is proposed and simulation results agree well with the characteristics of the physical structure of the MEMS switch. Vpull-in and Vpull-out of this switch are 8.1V and 0.3V, respectively.

Characterization and optimization to improve uneven surface on MEMS bridge fabrication

This paper presents an optimized fabrication method for developing a freestanding bridge for RF MEMS switches. In this method, the sacrificial layer is patterned and hard baked a 220°C for 3min, after filling the gap between the slots of the coplanar waveguide. Measurement results by AFM and SEM demonstrate that this technique significantly improves the planarity of the sacrificial layer, reducing the uneven surface to less than 20nm, and the homogeneity of the Aluminum thickness across the bridge. Moreover, a mixture of O2, Ar and CF4 was used and optimized for dry releasing of the bridge. A large membrane (200×100μm2) was released without any surface bending. Therefore, this method not only simplifies the fabrication process, but also improves the surface flatness and edge smoothness of the bridge. This fabrication method is fully compatible with standard silicon IC technology.

Design and simulation of a low-actuation-voltage MEMS switch

This paper presents a low-actuation-voltage micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) capacitive shunt switch which has a very large bandwidth (4 GHz to 24 GHz). In this work, the isolation of MEMS switch is improved by adding two short high impedance transmission lines at the beginning and end of a coplanar waveguide (CPW). Simulating the switch demonstrates that a return loss (S11) is less than -26 dB for the entire frequency band, and perfect matching at 20 GHz in upstate position. A ramp dual pulse driver is also designed for reducing the capacitive charge injection for considering the reliability of the switch. The simulation results show that the shifting of voltage due to the capacitive charge is reduced by more than 35% of the initial value. Finally, the dynamic behavior of the MEMS switch is simulated by modal analysis and using CoventorWare to calculate the natural frequencies of the switch and its mode shapes. The switching ON and OFF time are 4.48 and 2.43 μs, respectively, with an actuation voltage of less than 15 V.

Algebraically special coplanar shear-free perfect fluids in general relativity

We investigate all algebraically special, not conformally flat, shear-free, isentropic (p(w), w + p ≠ 0), perfect fluid solutions of Einstein's field equations. We show, using the GHP formalism, that if the repeated principle null direction of the Weyl tensor is coplanar with the fluid's 4-velocity and vorticity vector (assumed nonzero), then the fluid's expansion must vanish.

Planar waveguide refractive index profile reconstruction using global optimization

The approach taken here of reconstruction of the refractive index profile of planar waveguides involves solving a non-linear integral equation with Tikhonov regularization. Using global optimization with the new cutting angle and discrete gradient methods has yielded an acceptable reconstruction, even in the presence of significant noise in the data.

Characterization of supported cylinder-planar germanium waveguide sensors with synchrotron Infrared radiation

Cylinder-planar Ge waveguides are being developed as evanescent-wave sensors for chemical microanalysis. The only non-planar surface is a cylinder section having a 300-mm radius of curvature. This confers a symmetric taper, allowing for direct coupling into and out of the waveguide's 1-mm² end faces while obtaining multiple reflections at the central <30-μm-thick sensing region. Ray-optic calculations indicate that the propagation angle at the central minimum has a strong nonlinear dependence on both angle and vertical position of the input ray. This results in rather inefficient coupling of input light into the off-axis modes that are most useful for evanescent-wave absorption spectroscopy. Mode-specific performance of the cylinder-planar waveguides has also been investigated experimentally. As compared to a blackbody source, the much greater brightness of synchrotron-generated infrared (IR) radiation allows a similar total energy throughput, but restricted to a smaller fraction of the allowed waveguide modes. However, such angle-selective excitation results in a strong oscillatory interference pattern in the transmission spectra. These spectral oscillations are the principal technical limitation on using synchrotron radiation to measure evanescent-wave absorption spectra with the thin waveguides.

Repulsive interaction between coplanar cracks in the double–cantilever geometry

Experiments on thin mica sheets are used to demonstrate that coplanar cracks in double-cantilever beam specimens do not universally attract each other, as conventionally portrayed, but, at long range, actually repel. An elasticity analysis explains the repulsion in terms of a compression zone, 0.35 times the beam half-thickness ahead of the crack tip, generated by bending moments from the cantilever arms on the remaining specimen section.

Tuneable optical waveguide based on dielectrophoresis and microfluidics

In this work, an array of dielectrophoretic curved microelectrodes patterned in a microfluidic channel and integrated with a multimode rib polymeric waveguide is demonstrated. The microfluidic channel is infiltrated with suspended silica (SiO2) and tungsten trioxide (WO3) nanoparticles. The optofluidic system is found to be sensitive and responds not only to the infiltration of nanoparticle suspensions in the microfluidic channel, but also to the magnitude and frequencies of dielectrophoretic forces applied on the nanoparticles. The nanoparticles can be uniformly concentrated or repelled from the region between the curved microelectrode tips forming either a dense stream of flowing nanoparticles or a region void of nanoparticles in the evanescent sensitive region of the polymeric waveguide. The concentration and repulsion of nanoparticles from this region creates a refractive index gradient in the upper cladding of the polymeric waveguide. These conditions made it possible for light to either remain guided or be scattered as a function of dielectrophoretic settings applied on the nanoparticles. The results demonstrate that we successfully developed a novel tuneable polymeric waveguide based on dielectrophoretic assembly of nanoparticles suspended in fluids.

Efficient design of polarization insensitive polymer optical waveguide devices considering stress-induced effects

We present an approach for the efficient design of polarization insensitive polymeric optical waveguide devices considering stress-induced effects. In this approach, the stresses induced in the waveguide during the fabrication process are estimated first using a more realistic model in the finite element analysis. Then we determine the perturbations in the material refractive indices caused by the stress-optic effect. It is observed that the stresses cause non-uniform optical anisotropy in the waveguide materials, which is then incorporated in the modal analysis considering a multilayer structure of waveguide. The approach is exploited in the design of a Bragg grating on strip waveguide. Excellent agreement between calculated and published experimental results confirms the feasibility of our approach in the accurate design of polarization insensitive polymer waveguide devices.