Research Projects

We aim to develop a MEMS resonant switch based power amplifier. For RF circuits, the power amplifier (PA) is a major power hog, and while switched-mode Class- E amplifiers can theoretically achieve 100% drain efficiency this has not translated into practice as the transistors lack the required Figure of Merit. The figure of merit is defined as [FOM=1/(2πRonCoff], where Ron is on resistance, C0ff is off capacitance]. FOM for CMOS is less than 600GHz and high-end GaAs HBT's commonly used in PA's only reach 3THz. On the other hand, RF MEMS switches attain much higher FOM greater than 60THz, so would be ideal for PA's if not plagued by issues like low switching speed, large actuation voltage, and poor reliability. The proposed device employs internal dielectric transduction and avalanche breakdown to make a device with high figure of merit that can be used as a power amplifier. Further, the process is compatible with CMOS and can be integrated with standard IC chips.