1-D equivalent circuit for RF MEMS capacitive switch

In this paper the equivalent circuit for an accurate model of the RF (Radio Frequency) MEMS (Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems) capacitive switch is presented. The capacitive switch consists of a thin metal membrane, which name is bridge suspended over central conductor and connected at both ends to the ground conductor of CPW (coplanar waveguide). The equivalent circuit was created based on multi-physic modelling, elements analogues, and electrical equivalences. Mechanical and electrical forces are included in the equivalent circuit as current sources. The usefulness and effectiveness of the model was verified through results comparison with the commercial APLAC software and mathematical modelling in Matlab software. The novelty of the paper is the equivalent circuit, which is useful to simulate linear and non-linear cases of the RF MEMS capacitive switch and also the novelty is an implementation of the equivalent circuit in LTSpice, which is a freeware circuits simulator.