In this paper, to evaluate the applicability of electrostatically-actuated metal to metal direct-contact RF MEMS switches in practical RF fields, we performed three kinds of lifetime tests for the switches using three different conditions: cold-switching with no power, hot-switching with RF power, and hot-switching with DC current loads. The tested MEMS switch was demonstrating stable operation even after 10
9 cycles when cold-switching with no loads. We also experimentally showed that the tested switches could endure up to 10
6 cycles with 0.5W of RF power and 10
8 cycles with 30mA of DC current.
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