Structure dependent charging process in RF MEMS capacitive switches

The paper investigates the dependence of charging process on the dielectric charging of radiation induced defects in Si3N4 and SiO2 dielectric films, which are used in RF-MEMS switches. The radiation has been performed with 5 MeV alpha particles. The assessment has been carried out in Metal-Insulator-Metal capacitors with the thermally stimulated depolarization currents and discharge current transient methods. This allowed monitoring the defects introduction as a function of radiation fluence. The defects electrical characteristics that are the activation energy and corresponding depolarization time constant were determined from the evolution of the thermally stimulated current spectra and the transient response of discharge currents at different temperatures. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.