The potential of sputtered thin films to be used as dielectric layers in capacitive radio frequency microelectromechanical system switches is evaluated by investigating two factors of crucial importance for the performance of these devices which are the transport mechanisms and the charging effects in the dielectric layer. We find that films show good electrical and dielectrical properties for the considered application in terms of a low leakage current density of for , a high breakdown field of 4 MV/cm and a high dielectric constant of 32. For electric fields lower than 1 MV/cm the conduction mechanism is found to be variable-range hopping in the temperature range 300–400 K, while nearest-neighbor hopping is observed at higher temperatures. For fields in the range 1–4 MV/cm Poole–Frenkel becomes the dominant conduction mechanism. Current and capacitance transients used to investigate the charging effects show a decay which is well described by the stretched-exponential law, thus providing further insights on capture and emission processes.
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1 June 2010
Research Article|
June 01 2010
Transport and charging mechanisms in thin films for capacitive RF MEMS switches application
A. Persano;
A. Persano
a)
IMM-CNR, Institute for Microelectronics and Microsystems-Unit of Lecce,
National Council of Research
, Via Monteroni, I-73100 Lecce, Italy
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F. Quaranta;
F. Quaranta
IMM-CNR, Institute for Microelectronics and Microsystems-Unit of Lecce,
National Council of Research
, Via Monteroni, I-73100 Lecce, Italy
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M. C. Martucci;
M. C. Martucci
IMM-CNR, Institute for Microelectronics and Microsystems-Unit of Lecce,
National Council of Research
, Via Monteroni, I-73100 Lecce, Italy
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P. Cretì;
P. Cretì
IMM-CNR, Institute for Microelectronics and Microsystems-Unit of Lecce,
National Council of Research
, Via Monteroni, I-73100 Lecce, Italy
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P. Siciliano;
P. Siciliano
IMM-CNR, Institute for Microelectronics and Microsystems-Unit of Lecce,
National Council of Research
, Via Monteroni, I-73100 Lecce, Italy
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A. Cola
A. Cola
IMM-CNR, Institute for Microelectronics and Microsystems-Unit of Lecce,
National Council of Research
, Via Monteroni, I-73100 Lecce, Italy
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a)
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. Electronic mail: [email protected].
J. Appl. Phys. 107, 114502 (2010)
Article history
Received:
January 26 2010
Accepted:
March 25 2010
Citation
A. Persano, F. Quaranta, M. C. Martucci, P. Cretì, P. Siciliano, A. Cola; Transport and charging mechanisms in thin films for capacitive RF MEMS switches application. J. Appl. Phys. 1 June 2010; 107 (11): 114502. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3407542
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