RF Microwave Switches Based on Reversible Metal-Semiconductor Transition Properties of VO 2 Thin Films: An Attractive Wa
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1129-V14-01
RF Microwave Switches Based on Reversible Metal-Semiconductor Transition Properties of VO2 Thin Films: An Attractive Way to Realise Simple RF Microelectronic Devices. Frédéric Dumas-Bouchiat1,2,3, Corinne Champeaux1, Alain Catherinot1, Julien Givernaud2, Aurelian Crunteanu2 and Pierre Blondy2, 1 SPCTS UMR 6638, Université de Limoges / CNRS, France, 2 Xlim UMR 6172, Université de Limoges / CNRS, France, 3 Institut Néel UPR 2940, Université de Grenoble I / CNRS, France.
ABSTRACT Microwave switches in both shunt and series configurations have been developed using the semiconductor to metal (SC-M) transition of vanadium dioxide (VO2) thin films deposited by in situ pulsed laser deposition on C-plane sapphire and SiO2/Si substrates. The influence of geometrical parameters such as the length of the switch is shown. The VO2-based switches exhibit up to 30-40 dB average isolation of the radio-frequency (RF) signal over a very wide frequency band (500 MHz-35 GHz) with weak insertion losses, when thermally activated. Furthermore, they can be electrically activated. Finally, these VO2-based switches are integrated in the fabrication of innovative tunable band-stop filters which consist of a transmission line coupled with four U-shaped resonators and operate in the 9-11 GHz frequency range. Its tunability is demonstrated using electrical activation of each VO2-based switch.
INTRODUCTION The development of advanced communication systems for defense or space applications (antennas, multi-standard communication systems etc.) requires reconfigurable RF-microwave and millimeter-wave circuits. In order to address these demands with high performance devices, the integration of active electronic components such as semiconductor-based diodes or transistors or RF MEMS-based solutions [1,2] is investigated. The performance of such devices is often limited, for example, by the high consumption of the semiconductor components or by the weak reliability of the MEMS switches. These devices demand not only an improvement of the properties of conventional electronic materials, but also the introduction of new materials with new functionalities. One potential candidate is a thermochromic vanadium dioxide [3] that undergoes an abrupt reversible semi-conductor to metal (SC-M) transition around 341K. At this temperature the crystalline structure changes from the low-temperature monoclinic to the high-temperature tetragonal phase. During the transition, the resistivity [4] of the material and especially its optical transmission in the near-infrared domain [5] decrease abruptly. The VO2 SC-M transition can also be induced in an electrical [6,7] or optical [8,9] way. In these cases, the material response time is very fast and can achieve values as low as 1 ps. Because of its controllable properties, VO2 is an interesting material for applications in a wide variety of devices such as microbolometers, light modulators and optical or electrical switches [10-12] In this paper we describe the properties of vanadium dioxide thin films deposit
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