This paper reports material selection methodology for radio frequency - micro electro mechanical systems (RF-MEMS) switches used for reconfigurable antennas. As there are variety of materials available to design engineer, a proper technique to select the best possible material is needed. Three primary performance indices, pull-in voltage, RF-loss, and thermal residual stress, are used to obtain the desired performance. The selection chart shows that aluminum is the most suitable material for being used as bridge material in RF-MEMS switches to provide the best performance in reconfigurable antenna.
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