Angular vertical comb-driven tunable capacitor with high-tuning capabilities

Nguyen H., Hah D., Patterson P., Chao R., Piyawattanametha W., Lau E., ...More

JOURNAL OF MICROELECTROMECHANICAL SYSTEMS, vol.13, no.3, pp.406-413, 2004 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 13 Issue: 3
  • Publication Date: 2004
  • Doi Number: 10.1109/jmems.2004.828741
  • Journal Name: JOURNAL OF MICROELECTROMECHANICAL SYSTEMS
  • Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus
  • Page Numbers: pp.406-413
  • Keywords: angular vertical comb drive (AVC), BCB reflow, radio frequency microelectromechanical systems (RF MEMS), tunable capacitors
  • Abdullah Gül University Affiliated: No

Abstract

This paper reports on a novel tunable capacitor with electrostatic angular vertical comb-drive (AVC) actuators. The AVC tunable capacitor creates a large offset in comb ringers through a small rotation angle-an advantage not found in conventional lateral comb-drive devices. High capacitance and large continuous tuning ratio is achieved in a compact device area. The largest tuning varactor demonstrates capacitance values between 0.27-8.6 pF-a tuning ratio of more than 31 : 1, the highest ever reported. The maximum quality factor Q is 273 at I GHz near the minimum capacitance value.