Esd protection of mems for rf applications
AssigneeCavendish Kinetics, Inc.
InventorsRoberto GADDI, James Douglas HUFFMAN, Chenhui NIU, Ray PARKHURST
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Abstract
The present disclosure generally relates to the combination of MEMS intrinsic technology with specifically designed solid state ESD protection circuits in state of the art solid state technology for RF applications. Using ESD protection in MEMS devices has some level of complexity in the integration which can be seen by some as a disadvantage. However, the net benefits in the level of overall performance for insertion loss, isolation and linearity outweighs the disadvantages.
Claims13
A device, comprising:
- a plurality of MEMS devices connected in parallel with a common RF electrode, wherein the MEMS devices are disposed, electrically, between the RF electrode and ground;
- and
- a first ESD device coupled in parallel to the plurality of MEMS devices between the RF electrode and ground.
A device, comprising:
- a plurality of MEMS devices connected in parallel with a common first RF electrode, wherein the MEMS devices are disposed, electrically, between the first RF electrode and a second RF electrode;
- and
- a first ESD device coupled between the second RF electrode and ground.
A device, comprising:
- a plurality of MEMS devices connected in parallel with a first RF electrode, wherein each MEMS device has a corresponding second electrode;
- and
- a ESD device coupled between the first RF electrode and ground.
A device, comprising:
- a SOI semiconductor die;
- a plurality of pairs of connection pads coupled to the die;
- and
- an ESD device coupled between the connection pads of each pair of connection pads.
A device, comprising:
- a SOI semiconductor die;
- a plurality of connection pads coupled to the die;
- a floating common node coupled to the die;
- an ESD device coupled between each connection pad and the floating common node.
A device, comprising:
- a plurality of MEMS devices connected in parallel between a first RF electrode and a second RF electrode;
- a first ESD device coupled between the first RF electrode and ground;
- and
- a second ESD device coupled between the second RF electrode and ground.
A device, comprising:
- a first RF electrode;
- a plurality of second RF electrodes, wherein a switch is present between each second RF electrode and the first RF electrode;
- a first ESD device coupled between each second RF electrode and each switch;
- a second ESD device coupled between each switch and the first RF electrode;
- and
- a third ESD device coupled between ground and each first ESD device and the second ESD device.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.