• 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.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.7-12
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• 2016

This paper proposes a metal contact RF MEMS switch which utilizes a see-saw mechanism to acquire a switching action. The switch was built on a quartz substrate and involves vertical deflection of the beam under an applied actuation voltage of 5.46 volts over a signal line. The see-saw mechanism relieves much of the operation voltage required to actuate the switch. The switch has a stiff beam eliminating any stray mechanical forces. The switch has an excellent isolation of −90.9 dB (compared to − 58 dB in conventional designs ), the insertion of −0.2 dB, and a wide bandwidth of 88 GHz (compared to 40 GHz in conventional design ) making the switch suitable for wide band applications.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.136-141
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• 2010

The purpose of this study is to examine the structure and heat generation mechanism of low voltage switches used to turn on or off the power supply to an indoor lighting system and investigate how the fixtures and movable contacts of the switches are damaged depending on the types of energy sources in order to secure the judgment base for expected PL disputes. Based on the Korean Standard (KS) testing method for incombustibility, this study applied a general flame to the switch. In addition, current was supplied to the switch using the PCITS (Primary Current Injection Test System). The ambient temperature and humidity were maintained at $22{\pm}2^{\circ}C$ and 40~60% respectively while performing the test. It is thought that the switch generated heat due to a defective connection of the wire and clip, insulation deterioration and defective contact of the movable contact, etc. The surface of the switch damaged by the general flame was uniformly carbonized. When the flame source was removed, the fire on the switch was extinguished naturally. From the result obtained by disassembling the switch carbonized by the general flame, it could be seen that fixtures and movable contacts remained in comparatively good shape but the enclosure, clip support, movable contact, indicating lamp, etc. showed carbonization and discoloration. In the case of the switch damaged by overcurrent, the clip connecting the wires, clip support, etc. showed almost no trace of damage, but the fixtures, movable contact, indicating lamp, etc. were severely carbonized. That is, the sections with high contact resistance were intensively damaged and showed a damage pattern indicating that carbonization progressed from the inside to the outside. Therefore, it is possible to judge the initial energy source by analyzing the characteristics of the carbonization pattern and the metal fixtures of damaged switches.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Process Engineers
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• v.19 no.12
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• pp.80-86
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• 2020

With the exception of welding activities, it is forbidden to use electricity in shipyards, owing to safety concerns such as the possibility of fire, explosions, and short circuits. In this paper, an automatic chamfering machine using pneumatics is proposed for use in such environments. Customers specify their requirements and the machine derives the corresponding theoretical design conditions. The proposed machine was used to perform 3D modeling, and its suitability and performance were confirmed via cutting experiments of the manufactured device. Two types of sensors may be used in this system: contact and non-contact. In the case of the contact type, an end-stop switch that can recognize the end of the material is installed, and when the machine reaches the end of the material, the end-stop switch is operated to cut off the air pressure. In the non-contact type, four sensors were used: photonic, ultrasonic, metal detection, and encoder. The use of the four sensors was repeated 30 times, and the average error determined. Thus, the optimum sensor was identified.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2005.07c
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• pp.2395-2397
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• 2005

A low voltage operated piezoelectric RF MEMS in-line switch has been realized by using silicon bulk micromachining technologies for advanced mobile/wireless applications. The developed RF MEMS in-line switches were comprised of four piezoelectric cantilever actuators with an Au contact metal electrode and a suspended Au signal transmission line above the silicon substrate. The measured operation dc bias voltages were ranged from 2.5 to 4 volts by varying the thickness and the length of the piezoelectric cantilever actuators, which are well agreed with the simulation results. The measured isolation and insertion loss of the switch with series configuration were -43dB and -0.21dB (including parasitic effects of the silicon substrate) at a frequency of 2GHz and an actuation voltage of 3 volts.

• Proceedings of the IEEK Conference
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• 2003.07b
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• pp.1109-1112
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• 2003

본 연구는 switching mode 의 Power NMOSFET failure mode 에 관하여 분석하고 원인을 규명하였다. 분석된 power NMOSFET은 30V급이며, vender A의 상용화 제품이다. 발생한 failure mode는 power switch 회로에서 특정 ID 를 detect 하지 못하는 mode 였다. 측정결과 source voltage 가 저하되었으며, power NMOSFET DC 동작특성 분석 결과 Vgs 변화에 따라 Id 가 저하되었다. Fail 된 power MOSFET 특성값 reference는 동일 LOT의 양품을 선정하였다. De-cap후 Inversion 과 Accumulation mode 별로 Photoemission spectrum analyzer(PSA) 분석 방법을 적용하였다. 결과 accumulation mode 에서 intensity가 감소하였으며, forward diode mode에서 국소적으로 변화하는 영역이 검출되었다. SEM 분석결과 gate metal 과 source metal 의 micro-contact 이 이루어져 있었다. 이 경우 gate metal 과 source metal 사이 close loop 를 형성하여 gate charge량을 변화시켜 power NMOSFET의 출력을 저하하는 failure mode가 발생됨을 분석할 수 있었다.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.29 no.8
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• pp.461-465
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• 2016

n-type silicon shows the better tolerance towards metal impurities with a higher minority carrier lifetime compared to p-type silicon substrate. Due to better lifetime stability as compared to p-type during illumination made the photovoltaic community to switch toward n-type wafers for high efficiency silicon solar cells. We fabricated the front electrode of the n-type solar cell with AgAl paste. The electrodes characteristics of the AgAl paste depend on the contact junction depth that is closely related to the firing temperature. Metal contact depth with p+ emitter, with optimized depth is important as it influence the resistance. In this study, we optimize the firing condition for the effective formation of the metal depth by varying the firing condition. The firing was carried out at temperatures below $670^{\circ}C$ with low contact depth and high contact resistance. It was noted that the contact resistance was reduced with the increase of firing temperature. The contact resistance of $5.99m{\Omega}cm^2$ was shown for the optimum firing temperature of $865^{\circ}C$. Over $900^{\circ}C$, contact junction is bonded to the Si through the emitter, resulting the contact resistance to shunt. we obtained photovoltaic parameter such as fill factor of 76.68%, short-circuit current of $40.2mA/cm^2$, open-circuit voltage of 620 mV and convert efficiency of 19.11%.