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V-shaped micromechanical tunable capacitors for RF applications

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Abstract

A new MEM varactor design is presented. It relies on the displacement of an isolated conductor in the air gap of a V-shaped capacitor. To estimate capacitance and tuning ratio of this structure the distributed point source method (DPSM) has been used for electrostatic simulations. The realisation and characterisation of glass motionless prototypes show the feasibility and the interest of this new concept for RF applications. To obtain actuated mobile devices, a novel silicon process has also been developed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. ESIEE, SIGTEL laboratory, Cité Descartes, 93162, Noisy-le-Grand, France

    Aurélie Cruau & Gaëlle Lissorgues

  2. Thales Airborne Systems, OHTA department, Centre Charles Nungesser, 2 avenue Gay Lussac, 78851, Elancourt cedex, France

    Aurélie Cruau & Pierre Nicole

  3. Ecole Normale Supérieure de Cachan, SATIE laboratory, 61 avenue du Président Wilson, 94235, Cachan cedex, France

    Dominique Placko

  4. EPFL, Electronic laboratory, Ecublens, BM 1-125, 1015, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Adrian M. Ionescu

Authors
  1. Aurélie Cruau
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  2. Gaëlle Lissorgues
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  3. Pierre Nicole
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  4. Dominique Placko
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  5. Adrian M. Ionescu
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Correspondence to Aurélie Cruau.

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Cruau, A., Lissorgues, G., Nicole, P. et al. V-shaped micromechanical tunable capacitors for RF applications. Microsyst Technol 12, 15–20 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00542-005-0055-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00542-005-0055-1

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