RF MEMS switches

31 January 2017 Analogue, Mixed Signal, LSI

Analog Devices is claiming a breakthrough in switch technology that provides a long-sought replacement for electromechanical relay designs first adopted by the electronics industry more than 100 years ago.

The company’s new RF-MEMS switch technology resolves multiple performance limitations commonly attributed to relays. With the commercial release of products enabled by this technology, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) can significantly improve the accuracy and versatility of automatic test equipment (ATE) and other instrumentation tools.

Future products within the MEMS switch series will replace relays in aerospace and defence, healthcare and communications infrastructure equipment, allowing OEMs in those markets to pass similar size, power and cost savings along to their customers.

The first in a new product series are the ADGM1304 and ADGM1004, which Analog Devices says are 95% smaller, 30 times faster, 10 times more reliable, and use 10 times less power than conventional electromechanical relays. Unlike other switch alternatives such as solid-state relays, these MEMS switches have superior precision and RF performance from 0 Hz (DC) to 14 GHz.

The devices increase cold-switching lifetime by a factor of 10 compared to electromechanical relays, extending ATE system operating life and reducing costly downtime caused by relay failures. Additionally, the extremely low height of the switch packages allows designers to surface-mount the devices on both sides of their ATE test boards to boost channel densities at reduced cost and without expanding equipment footprint. An integrated charge pump removes the need for external drivers, further reducing ATE system size, while a multiplexer configuration simplifies the fan-out structure compared to DPDT relay designs.

For more information contact Erich Nast, Avnet South Africa, +27 (0)11 319 8600, [email protected], www.avnet.co.za

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