Spring constant models for analysis and design of MEMS plates on straight or meander tethers

Comprehensive spring constant models are developed to analyse the electromechanical behaviour of elastically suspended MEMS plates. These models account for residual (post-fabrication) stress, finite stiffness of real anchors, and non-rigidity of the plate. Based on the models developed, the pull-in voltage of microfabricated switches is determined for a wide range of device geometries. Experimental measurements verify the accuracy of the models developed, which is within 11%. The results also show that significant errors (over 100%) in predicting the device pull-in behaviour may result if conventional models are applied to the plate-tethers system.