We report GeTe-based phase change material RF switches with on-state resistance of 0.07 ohm*mm and off-state capacitance of 20 fF/mm. The RF switch figure-of-merit, R_on*C_off is comparable to RF MEMS ohmic switches. The PCM RF shunt and series switches were fabricated for the first time in a lateral FET configuration to reduce parasitics, different from the vertical via switches. In a shunt switch configuration, isolation of 30 dB was achieved up to 67 GHz with return loss of 15 dB. RF power handling was tested with ~10 W for series and 3 W for shunt configurations. Harmonic powers were suppressed more than 100 dBc at fundamental power of 1 W, for future tunable and reconfigurable RF technology.

Date Published: 17 June 2014
PDF: 5 pages
Proc. SPIE 9096, Open Architecture/Open Business Model Net-Centric Systems and Defense Transformation 2014, 90960A (17 June 2014); doi: 10.1117/12.2059323

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 9096:
Open Architecture/Open Business Model Net-Centric Systems and Defense Transformation 2014
Raja Suresh, Editor(s)