In this paper, fully integrated piezoelectrically actuated RF MEMS switches have been designed, fabricated, and characterized by using silicon bulk micromachining technology for advanced mobile communication systems with multi-band/mode operation. The proposed RF MEMS de-contact switches are comprised of four piezoelectric cantilever actuators, a contact metal pad, and a suspended CPW signal transmission line above the silicon substrate. The measured operation dc bias voltages are ranged from 2.5 to 3 volts by varying the thickness of the cantilever piezoelectric actuators, which are well agreed with the simulation results. The measured isolation and insertion loss of the fabricated RFMEMS switch with a suspended CPW transmission line are -43dB and -0.23dB at a frequency of 2 GHz and an actuation voltage of 3 volts, respectively. It also has excellent RF performance characteristics at ultra-wide frequency bands. The switching on/off time of the fabricated switch is 4 μsec at rising and 20 μsec at falling actuation, respectively.
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