Full integrated process to manufacture RF-MEMS and MMICs on GaN/Si substrate

Radio Frequency Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (RF-MEMS) represents a feasible solution to obtain very low power dissipation and insertion loss, very high isolation and linearity switch with respect to “solid state” technologies. In this paper, we demonstrate the full integration of RF-MEMS switches in the GaN-HEMT (Gallium Nitride/High Electron Mobility Transistor) fabrication line to develop RF-MEMS devices and LNA-MMIC (Low Noise Amplifier/Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuit) prototype simultaneously in the same GaN wafer. In particular, two different coplanar wave (CPW) LNAs and a series of discrete RF-MEMS in ohmic-series and capacitive-shunt configuration have been fabricated. RF-MEMS performances reveal an insertion loss and isolation better than 1 and 15 dB, respectively, in the frequency range 20–50 GHz in the case of pure capacitive shunt switches and in the frequency range 5–35 GHz for the ohmic-series switches. Moreover, the GaN HEMT device shows an Fmax of about 38 GHz and a power density of 6.5 W/mm, while for the best LNA-MMIC we have obtained gain better than 12 dB at 6–10 GHz with a noise figure of circa 4 dB, demonstrating the integration achievability.