CALCULATION OF SWITCHING SPEED OF A CAPACITIVE MICRO-SWITCH BY ANALYTICAL AND FINITE ELEMENT METHODS

Abstract

The switching speed of a micromachined switch is calculated by using elastic beam as well as thin plate models. The effect of pre-tightening to achieve higher eigenfrequency of the deflected member is also investigated. A performance parameter is introduced to describe the functioning of the switch in order to take into account not only fast switching, but also the necessary pull-in voltage for the device. Three switch-configurations are analyzed by finite elements and optimum geometrical parameters were searched.