Design procedure against thermomechanical fatigue damage of RF–MEMS switch

The RF–MEMS switch undergoes a complex loading in service, including nonlinear electromechanical excitation, heating and alternate contact between electrodes. Thermomechanical coupling makes aggressive fatigue damage, and requires a suitable strategy to effectively predict the MEMS life. This paper assesses a suitable procedure to predict the microswitch behaviour, to define a suitable range of load and temperature, in operation, against the thermomechanical damages and provides a design criterion looking compatible with set-ups of some commercial products.