• Proceedings of the IEEK Conference
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• 2005.11a
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• pp.147-150
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• 2005

Low actuation voltage and no contact stiction are the important factors to apply MEMS RF switches to mobile devices. Conventional electrostatic MEMS RF switches require several tens of voltages for actuation. In this paper we propose PAS MEMS RF switch which adopt PZT actuators and seesaw cantilevers to meet the above requirements. The fundamental structures of PAS MEMS switch were designed, optimized, and fabricated. Through the developed processes PAS SPDT MEMS RF switches were successfully fabricated on 4" wafers and they showed good electrical properties. The driving voltage was less than 5 volts. And the insertion loss was -0.5dB and the isolation was 35dB at 5GHz. The switching speed was about 5kHz. So these MEMS RF switches can be applicable to mobile communication devices or wireless multi-media devices at lower than 6GHz.

• Proceedings of the IEEK Conference
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• 2005.11a
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• pp.953-956
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• 2005

Low voltage actuation and high isolation characteristics are key features to be solved in electrostatic RF switch design. Since these parameters in the conventional parallel plate MEMS switch design are in trade-off relation, both requirements cannot be met simultaneously. In vertical comb design, however, the actuation voltage is independent to the vertical separation distance between the contact electrodes. Then, we can design the large separation distance between contact electrodes to get high isolation. We have designed an RF MEMS switch which has -40dB isolation at 5 GHz and 6 V operation voltages. The characteristics of the fabricated switch are being evaluate.

• Proceedings of the IEEK Conference
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• 2005.11a
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• pp.929-932
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• 2005

We report a pull-up type RF MEMS switch using double electrode without elastic deformation of the cantilever involved in the actuation. At a voltage of 4.5 V, reliable actuations are achieved such that the movable lower contact pad is pulled up by the electrostatic force to make contact with the upper pad. At a frequency of 50 GHz, an insertion loss of 0.7 dB and an isolation of 50.7 dB are obtained from the switch. The measured transient times for switch-on and switch-off are 120 and 80 us, respectively.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.40-45
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• 2011

Microcantilevers have been actively used in probe-based microscopy and gravimetric sensing for biological or chemical analytes. To integrate actuation or detection schemes in the structure, typical fabrication processes include several photolithographic steps along with conventional MEMS fabrication. In this paper, a simple and straightforward way to fabricate and operate silicon microcantilever mass sensors is presented. The fabricated microcantilever sensors which can be electrostatically actuated require only two photolithographic steps. Resonant characteristics of fabricated microcantilevers are measured with a custom optical-lever and results show size-dependent quality factors. Using a $40\;{\mu}m$ long, $7\;{\mu}m$ wide, and $3\;{\mu}m$ thick cantilever, we achieved subfemtogram mass resolution in a 1 Hz bandwidth.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2000.07c
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• pp.2260-2262
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• 2000

In this paper, micromirror which can rotate 45 degree is designed, analyzed and fabricated. The micromirror is parallel to the substrate initially. When external magnetic field is applied, a micromirror can rotate to align its easy axis to the field. The size of micromirror array is $10{\times}10$. The mirror plate and spring is made of aluminium, and nickel is used as soft magnetic material. To obtain 45 degree angular deflection, dimension ratio between stopper length and thickness of sacrificial layer is properly selected. By using electrostatic force, individual actuation is possible.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2004.11a
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• pp.986-990
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• 2004

In this paper, we propose a method to estimate the actuating voltage of the nanotweezer made by manual assembly using carbon nanotube. The nanotweezer is composed of two CNT arms that are made by the multiwalled carbon nanotube and tungsten tip. Since the each CNT arm has the macro actuator, the nanotweezer can manipulate a large particle and it is possible to close and open the CNT arm repeatedly. The closing voltage, i.e., actuating voltage is calculated using the capacitance between the carbon nanotubes in CNT arm. We demonstrate the actuation of the nanotweezer using the voltage calculated with the electrostatic force.

• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
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• v.19 no.9
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• pp.1711-1719
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• 2005

In an electro statically actuated nanoelectromechanical system (NEMS) resonator, it is shown that both the resonance frequency and the resonance quality (Q) factor can be manipulated. How much the frequency and quality factor can be tuned by excitation voltage and resistance on a doubly-clamped beam resonator is addressed. A mathematical model for investigating the tuning effects is presented. All results are shown based on the feasible dimension of the nanoresonator and appropriate external driving voltage, yielding up to 20 MHz resonance frequency. Such parameter tuning could prove to be a very convenient scheme to actively control the response of NEMS for a variety of applications.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.1363-1371
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• 1996

This paper presents the design, fabrication, and testing of polysilicon electrostatic microactuators that resonate in the direction parallel to the silicon susbstrates. A set of six different designs has been developed using a theoretical model and design formulae developed for the mocroactuators. Microactuator prototypes are fabricated from a 2.1 $\mu{m}$-thick LPCVD polysilicon film, using a 4-mask surface-micromachining process. The prototypes are tested under a d.c. bias voltage of 45V with an a.c. drive voltage amplitude of 20 v.Measured resorant frequencies are in the ranges of 40-60 kHz, showing a good agreement to their theoretical estimates within error bounds of .$\pm$.5%. Important issues inthe design and microfabrication of the microactuators are discussed, together with potential applicaitons of the key technology involved.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.92-97
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• 2016

This paper presents design and simulation of wide band RF microswitch that uses electrostatic actuation for its operation. RF MEMS devices exhibit superior high frequency performance in comparison to conventional devices. Similar techniques that are used in Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) can be employed to design and fabricate MEMS devices and traditional batch-processing methods can be used for its manufacturing. The proposed switch presents a novel design approach to handle reliability concerns in MEMS switches like dielectric charging effect, micro welding and stiction. The shape has been optimized at actuation voltage of 14-16 V. The switch has an improved restoring force of 20.8 μN. The design of the proposed switch is very elemental and primarily composed of electrostatic actuator, a bridge membrane and coplanar waveguide which are suspended over the substrate. The simple design of the switch makes it easy for fabrication. Typical insertion and isolation of the switch at 1 GHz is -0.03 dB and -71 dB and at 85 GHz it is -0.24 dB and -29.8 dB respectively. The isolation remains more than - 20 db even after 120 GHz. To our knowledge this is the first demonstration of a metal contact switch that shows such a high and sustained isolation and performance at W-band frequencies with an excellent figure-of merit (fc=1/2.pi.Ron.Cu =1,900 GHz). This figure of merit is significantly greater than electronic switching devices. The switch would find extensive application in wideband operations and areas where reliability is a major concern.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.32 no.8
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• pp.743-748
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• 2015

This paper reports the enhanced fabrication and characterization of a $3{\times}3$ array tactile actuator composed of cellulose acetate. The array tactile actuator, with dimensions of $15{\times}15{\times}1mm^3$, consists of 9 pillar-supported cells made from a cellulose-acetate molding. The fabrication process and performance test along with the results for the suggested actuator are explained. To improve the cell-array fabrication, a laser cut was adopted after the molding process. The displacement of the unit cell increased the input voltage and frequency. Various top masses are added onto the actuator to mimic the touch force, and the acceleration of the actuator is measured under actuation. When 2 kV is applied to the actuator, the maximum acceleration is 0.64 g, which is above the vibrotactile threshold. The actuation mechanism is associated with the electrostatic force between the top and bottom electrodes.