Dimensioning of the Stoppers Used to Reduce the Sticking Effect in Electrostatic Capacitor Switches

H. ACHKAR¹, J. RUAN¹, C. VILLENEUVE¹, D. PEYROU¹, F. PENNEC¹, M. SARTOR², P. PONS¹, R. PLANA<sup>1

1</sup>Université de Toulouse, LAAS-CNRS (MINC), 7 Av du colonel Roche, Toulouse, France, Phone: +33 5 61 33 69 30
²Université de Toulouse, INSA, UPS, LGMT, 135 Av de Rangueil, Toulouse, France, Phone: +33 5 61 55 97 06

Abstract. This paper deals with the problem of sticking in electrostatic RF-Micro switches by proposing a structure which ameliorates the restoring force without changing the pull-in voltage. First we showed the need of different stiffness of the structure between the state before actuation and after it collapses. A methodology for dimensioning the stoppers is then explained and applied to the test structures that we want to fabricate in order to validate our concept.