Protection schemes for MEMS switch devices
First Claim
1. An electronic circuit having a micro-electromechanical switch device and a solid-state clamp circuit, the electronic circuit comprising:
- an integrated circuit device package, comprising;
a first substrate;
an integrated micro-electromechanical switch device located upon or within the first substrate;
a hermetic enclosure defining a hermetically isolated region to isolate the integrated micro-electromechanical switch device from a surrounding environment;
a solid-state clamp circuit electrically coupled to the micro-electromechanical switch and configured to suppress or inhibit damage to the micro-electromechanical switch due to a transient overvoltage condition, the solid-state clamp circuit comprising complementary branches of a series arrangement of first and second integrated diode devices where the first and second integrated diode devices in a same branch have complementary capacitance-to-voltage relationships, the first and second integrated diode devices respectively comprising laterally-separated anode and cathode regions arranged to provide protection for positive-going and negative-going voltage swings with respect to a reference node; and
a control circuit electrically coupled to the integrated micro-electromechanical switch, the control circuit configured to receive a logic-level signal and to provide a control signal to electrostatically actuate the micro-electromechanical switch in response to the received logic-level signal.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Micro-electromechanical switch (MEMS) devices can be fabricated using integrated circuit fabrication techniques and materials. Such switch devices can provide cycle life and insertion loss performance suiting for use in a broad range of applications including, for example, automated test equipment (ATE), switching for measurement instrumentation (such as a spectrum analyzer, network analyzer, or communication test system), and uses in communication systems, such as for signal processing. MEMS devices can be vulnerable to electrical over-stress, such as associated with electrostatic discharge (ESD) transient events. A solid-state clamp circuit can be incorporated in a MEMS device package to protect one or more MEMS devices from damaging overvoltage conditions. The clamp circuit can include single or multiple blocking junction structures having complementary current-voltage relationships, such as to help linearize a capacitance-to-voltage relationship presented by the clamp circuit.
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Citations
44 Claims
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1. An electronic circuit having a micro-electromechanical switch device and a solid-state clamp circuit, the electronic circuit comprising:
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an integrated circuit device package, comprising; a first substrate; an integrated micro-electromechanical switch device located upon or within the first substrate; a hermetic enclosure defining a hermetically isolated region to isolate the integrated micro-electromechanical switch device from a surrounding environment; a solid-state clamp circuit electrically coupled to the micro-electromechanical switch and configured to suppress or inhibit damage to the micro-electromechanical switch due to a transient overvoltage condition, the solid-state clamp circuit comprising complementary branches of a series arrangement of first and second integrated diode devices where the first and second integrated diode devices in a same branch have complementary capacitance-to-voltage relationships, the first and second integrated diode devices respectively comprising laterally-separated anode and cathode regions arranged to provide protection for positive-going and negative-going voltage swings with respect to a reference node; and a control circuit electrically coupled to the integrated micro-electromechanical switch, the control circuit configured to receive a logic-level signal and to provide a control signal to electrostatically actuate the micro-electromechanical switch in response to the received logic-level signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. An electronic circuit having a micro-electromechanical switch device and a solid-state clamp circuit, the electronic circuit comprising:
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an integrated circuit device package, comprising; a first substrate; an integrated micro-electromechanical switch device located upon or within the first substrate; a hermetic enclosure defining a hermetically isolated region to isolate the integrated micro-electromechanical switch device from a surrounding environment; and a solid-state clamp circuit electrically coupled to the micro-electromechanical switch and configured to suppress or inhibit damage to the micro-electromechanical switch due to a transient overvoltage condition, the solid-state clamp circuit comprising complementary branches of a series arrangement of first and second integrated diode devices where the first and second integrated diode devices in a same branch have complementary capacitance-to-voltage relationships, wherein the first and second integrated diode devices are coupled to silicon-controlled rectifier (SCR) device structures integrated with the first and second integrated diode devices on a commonly-shared integrated circuit substrate. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 37)
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32. A method for protecting a micro-electromechanical switch device, the method comprising:
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coupling a signal to a hermetically-enclosed integrated circuit device package housing a micro-electromechanical switch device; suppressing or inhibiting damage to the micro-electromechanical switch device from the signal, using a solid-state clamp circuit electrically coupled to the micro-electromechanical switch device during a transient overvoltage condition, the solid-state clamp included as a portion of the integrated circuit device package; and compensating for a non-linear capacitance-to-voltage relationship of a diode included as a portion of the solid-state clamp circuit using a series arrangement of complementary branches of first and second integrated diode devices where the first and second integrated diode devices in a same branch have complementary capacitance-to-voltage relationships, the first and second integrated diode devices respectively comprising laterally-separated anode and cathode regions; wherein a state of the micro-electromechanical switch device is controlled using a control circuit configured to receive a logic-level signal and to provide a control signal to electrostatically actuate the micro-electromechanical switch device in response to the received logic-level signal, the control circuit included as a portion of the integrated circuit device package. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44)
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Specification