Microelectronics Reliability 51 (2011) 602–609

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Microelectronics Reliability
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/microrel

A self-test and dynamics characterization circuit for MEMS electrostatic actuators

Daniel Fernández ⇑, Jordi Madrenas, Jordi Cosp
Electronic Engineering Department, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), Jordi Girona 1-3, 08034 Barcelona, Spain

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: This paper presents a high-bandwidth capacitance estimation and driving circuit especially tailored for
Received 15 October 2008 its use with MEMS electrostatic actuators. The circuit can be integrated as a part of a system comprising
Accepted 18 September 2010 an electrostatic actuator to provide self-testing and failure prediction capabilities and also as a simple and
Available online 13 October 2010
low-cost actuator dynamics characterization system capable of measuring both periodic and non-
periodic movements.
Ó 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction However, the dynamic behavior of the actuator also reflects in

In the field of Micro-Electromechanical Systems (MEMS), failure
prediction, detection and correction is one of the major points in
the development of a reliable commercial device. The applications
of electrostatic actuators, one of the most widely used family of
microsystems, include RF switches [1], varactors [2], tunable lasers
[3], optical filters [4] and micropositioners [5], among others. In
their most basic form, an electrostatic actuator consists on a mova-
ble plate (a cantilever or membrane) and a fixed plate, forming a
small capacitor. When a voltage is applied to the plates, an electric
force appears between them that makes the movable plate move
towards the fixed one [6].
Unfortunately, electrostatic actuators suffer from a severe num-
ber of failure mechanisms [7], particularly stiction and charge
injection. Two of the most useful sources of information about
the electrostatic actuator status are their static and dynamic or
transient response when an actuation signal is applied. Since the
actuator plates form a small capacitor that varies with the electro-
static actuator movement, the static characteristic is typically
approximated with capacitance vs. actuation voltage measure-
ments (or C/V curves). Those measures are obtained with
impedance analyzers or, recently, with simpler capacitance mea-
surement circuits better suited for monolithic integration [8]. On
the other hand, the dynamic characteristic is usually measured
with complex optical systems based on optical interferometers,
laser-Doppler vibrometers and stroboscopic lighting [9]. Com-
monly those systems can measure only periodic movements,
although some of them, if the mechanical bandwidth or oscillation
frequency of the actuator are small enough, measure also aperiodic
ones.
⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +34 600608221.
E-mail addresses: dfernan@eel.upc.edu (D. Fernández), madrenas@eel.upc.edu
(J. Madrenas), jcosp@eel.upc.edu (J. Cosp).
capacitance changes as the static characteristic does, and thereby
it can be measured with the same techniques if the bandwidth of
the estimator is high enough. While impedance analyzers currently
are capable of measuring typical transient capacitance changes of a
few Hz of bandwidth, the circuit previously reported by the
authors in [8] can measure non-periodic capacitance changes of
up to 40 MHz and thereby provide an accurate indicator of the
electrostatic actuator dynamic behavior. Its working principle is
based on a capacitive divider technique driven by a Pulse-Width
Modulation (PWM) signal, which allows for a simpler and more
area-efficient integration of the capacitance estimator and driving
circuit in comparison to the approaches based on the injection of a
high-frequency signal added to the actuation voltage [10], while
dramatically increasing their bandwidth. Since it does not require
any additional capacitive sensor anchored to the structure, it can
be readily used in any existing microsystem as part of an inte-
grated self-testing or failure prediction system. Moreover, it will
be easy to integrate in the actuator final application or as a
low-cost actuator dynamics characterization circuit that can be
included in the manufacturing process quality control and
verification chain. In this paper, we review the working principle
of this capacitance estimator and present the results on both
applications.
2. Capacitance estimation and driving circuit
2.1. Working principle
A simplified schematic of the capacitance estimator and driving
circuit is depicted in Fig. 1. The electrostatic actuator is represented
as the variable capacitor C(t) and the output voltage as VOUT. CS is a
series capacitor and inputs D (Disconnect), R (Reset), H (Hold) are
digital signals controlling the M2 switch, the M1 transmission gate
and the U1 high-voltage logic inverter. M3 is a voltage follower that

0026-2714/$ - see front matter Ó 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.microrel.2010.09.027
 D. Fernández et al. / Microelectronics Reliability 51 (2011) 602–609
Fig. 1. Simplified schematic of the capacitance estimation circuit. The electrostatic actuator is represented as the variable capacitor C(t), the series capacitor as CS and the
output as VOUT.
provides electrical isolation of the output. The logic value of the H
signal is always the opposite of H.
The capacitance of the electrostatic actuator C(t) and the series
capacitor CS form a capacitive divider circuit. If both capacitances
are initially discharged and a voltage VA(t) is applied to the upper
node of the capacitive divider, the intermediate voltage VCS(t) fol-
lows the equation
CðtÞ
V CS ðtÞ ¼ V A ðtÞ
C S þ CðtÞ
Provided that CS  C(t), the previous equation can be approximated
to:
V A ðtÞ
V CS ðtÞ  CðtÞ
CS
Hereby, the intermediate node of the capacitive divider has, approx-
imately, a voltage proportional to the actuator capacitance. How-
ever, this node has an ideally infinite impedance in DC, which
implies that no long-term stability of the measure can be guaran-
teed [11]. In fact, any leakage current flowing through the interme-
diate node of the capacitive divider will change the charge
distribution between capacitors and so the VCS(t) voltage,
invalidating the measurement.
In order to solve this, the logic inverter U1 and the switch M2
periodically reset the charge of both capacitors to zero so the
capacitive divider can be charged again. Also, the voltage follower
M3 provides electrical isolation between the intermediate node and
the output voltage so another circuit stage or a measurement
instrument can be connected to it without increasing the leakage.
Since during this charge reset the actuator voltage is zero, the
actuation voltage VA(t) can be efficiently generated by using the lo-
gic inverter U1. If the D signal is a PWM-like digital voltage with a
switching frequency much higher than the resonance frequency of
the actuator, its static and dynamic characteristic will be deter-
mined by the equivalent continuous-time value VEQ of the actua-
tion voltage VA, that is,
rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
DC
V EQ ¼ V OH 1
100
where VOH is the high output voltage of the inverter U1 (typically its
supply voltage) and DC is the duty cycle, in %, of the D signal. The
square root in (3) is due to the square relation between the electric
force and the actuation voltage in electrostatic actuators [6] and the
603
subtraction is due to the opposite relation of the duty cycles of the
actuation voltage and the D signal inverted by U1.
The circuit is better understood by analyzing the running se-
quence of the digital control signals D, R and H. This sequence
can be summarized as follows:
 In normal operation, signals D, R and H are equal to 0. In this
mode, a high voltage is applied to the upper node of the
actuator though the U1 inverter, the switch M2 is turned off
ð1Þ
and the transmission gate M1 is turned on. Thereby, the output
voltage VOUT tracks VCS by means of the PMOS voltage follower
M3.
 When a reset is required, the signal H is set to logic 1 (and H to
0). This disconnects the transmission gate M1 so the output volt-
ð2Þ age VOUT is held constant regardless of VCS.
 Then, signal R is set to 1, discharging the serial capacitor CS.
 Next, signal D is set to 1, discharging the electrostatic actuator.
 After both capacitors have been discharged, R is set back to 0
and the capacitors can be charged again.
 Finally, signal D is set back to 0, charging the capacitive divider
and, after a short time, signal H is set also to zero, enabling the
transmission gate, so the output voltage tracks again VCS and the
sequence is repeated.
The time period between reset sequences varies greatly with
the actuator absolute capacitance and the measurement conditions
(leakage of the cable insulators, air humidity, etc.). Experimentally,
it has been found that maximum period values under worst condi-
tions are greater than 100 ls.
2.2. Implementation
In order to reduce leakage to tolerable levels, transistors M1N,
M1P, M2 and M3 have been implemented in a 0.35 lm custom
CMOS integrated circuit with no ESD protections on the pad of
the intermediate node of the capacitive divider. It also comprises
a digital circuit based on standard cells and starving inverters that
generates the digital control signals D, R, H and H from a single
ð3Þ external clock signal to ease the circuit usage. The manufacturing
technology was only qualified to operate at a nominal voltage of
3.3 V, however, the voltage applied to the actuator can be much
higher if a discrete high-voltage inverter is used and the condition
CS  C(t) holds, thereby guaranteeing that VCS is below 3.3 V at all
times. During extensive periods of testing, no reliability problems
604 D. Fernández et al. / Microelectronics Reliability 51 (2011) 602–609
were found, but during the manipulation of the integrated circuit it
was necessary to wear personal ESD protection equipment or dam-
age occasionally occurred.
The high-voltage logic inverter was implemented using the dis-
crete commercial device ICL7667, which allows continuous opera-
tion at voltages up to 15 V. Experimentally, it was found that the
supply voltage can be as high as 20 V for short periods of time.
Also, a discrete high-bandwidth amplifier based on the OPA356
operational amplifier was added to the circuit output to provide
gain and increased electrical isolation. Total bandwidth of the sys-
tem was measured to be beyond 40 MHz, allowing the measure-
ment of fast dynamics and transients in the actuator movement.
However, it must be noted that electrostatic actuators could have
electrical poles below the system bandwidth. Those poles are
caused by the actuator and parasitic capacitances and the para-
sitic series resistance of the connections. This may happen, for
example, when actuators with high on-rest capacitances manufac-
tured using low-doped, highly resistive silicon are used. For those
devices, it is not possible to electrically measure their dynamics
beyond their electrical bandwidth without using some equaliza-
tion technique.
3. Applications
For precise capacitance measurements, parasitic capacitances
need to be compensated. Parasitics will cause either a gain devi-
ation (parasitic capacitance in parallel with CS) or a measurement
offset (parasitic capacitance in parallel with the actuator). To
compensate for both, two measures were taken by substituting
the actuator by discrete fixed capacitors. This way, offset (dis-
placement) and gain (slope) measurement errors are easily
compensated.
3.1. Failure detection with static measurements
Capacitive measurements can be used as a simple failure detec-
tion technique in electrostatic actuators. The usefulness of this
10
Time = 0’
Time = 1’
Time = 2’
9 Time = 3’
Time = 4’
8
C [pF]
4
0 2 4 6
Effective Actuation Voltage [V]
Fig. 2. Charge injection in electrostatic actuators. The plot shows capacitance vs. effective actuation voltage characteristics of an electrostatic actuator taken in one minute
intervals.
technique has been previously reported [10,12] as a fast and
low-cost replacement for testing RF MEMS switches. These mea-
sures are usually represented as C/V curves, that is, the steady-state
actuator capacitance for each actuation voltage. In order to obtain
the C/V characteristic of the electrostatic actuator, a high-fre-
quency PWM signal with a slow increasing duty cycle was gener-
ated using a function generator while the voltage VOUT was
captured by an oscilloscope. A computer running LabVIEW [13]
was used to synchronize the instruments, automate the measure-
ments and set the pass/fail parameters.
Charge injection [14,15] is one of the most common failure
mechanisms in electrostatic actuators. It can be seen as a pull-in
voltage decrease over time in the C/V characteristic. Fig. 2 depicts
a measure of this phenomenon, showing different C/V curves of
the same electrostatic actuator measured one minute after each
other. The voltage applied to the actuator between the measures
was kept to a high value. Measurement conditions were VOH = 17 V
and CS = 100 pF and the electrostatic actuator was a gold over poly-
silicon membrane of 360 lm  360 lm with a 520 nm + 1.5 lm
thickness fabricated in the PolyMUMPs process [16]. The plot shows
how the pull-in voltage of the electrostatic actuator decreases from
16 V to 13 V in a 4-min period.
Charge injection can be compensated in part by a bipolar actu-
ation voltage scheme. However, it is unavoidable that the electro-
static actuator dielectric acquires certain amounts of charge that
will pull the plates together and cause stiction even without ap-
plied voltage [17]. Fig. 3 shows the effect of stiction and aging in
an electrostatic actuator. The plot depicts the original measured
C/V characteristic (labeled as ‘‘New”) and the ones of the same
actuator after a series of tests (labeled as ‘‘Old” and ‘‘Stuck”). Mea-
surement conditions were the same as in previous plot. Note how
the capacitive variation between the resting and collapsed states
(usually referred as DC) decreases with age while the minimum
capacitance increases significantly. When the plates become stuck
together no significant pull-in can be seen, thus indicating a total
failure of the actuator. To demonstrate this, Fig. 4 shows the profile
of the membrane of the actuators ‘‘New” and ‘‘Stuck”. Note that,
initially, there is no contact between the plates, but, with the
8 10 12 14 16 18
 D. Fernández et al. / Microelectronics Reliability 51 (2011) 602–609 605

12
Stuck
Old
11 New

10

9
C [pF]

4
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Effective Actuation Voltage [V]

Fig. 3. Actuation aging and stiction. Capacitive variation DC decreases while the minimum capacitance increases, indicating aging and failure of the actuator.

8
New
Stuck
7

5
Height [µm]

0
0 100 200 300 400 500
Position [µm]

Fig. 4. Profiles measured with an interferometer of the electrostatic actuators ‘‘New” and ‘‘Stuck” of Fig. 3. The structures at each side of the membrane are part of the arms
and anchors of the actuator.

‘‘Stuck” actuator only a very small region in the middle is free to
move.
Note that with this capacitance measurement circuit, it be-
comes very simple to build a self-test and diagnostics system easy
to integrate in the final application of the electrostatic actuator. A
simple PWM ramp generator can provide the required duty cycle
sweep of the clock signal, while the pass-fail decision can be done
by detecting where the pull-in occurs and the difference between
the maximum and minimum values of the measure. In a RF switch
application, for example, warnings can be issued before total
failure of the switch. Even redundant actuators kept in stand-by
can be used for continuing the normal operation of the whole
system.
3.2. Dynamics characterization
The analysis of the actuator dynamics can also provide a
useful insight in the actuators performance in many applications.
Those include the detection of packaging failure in vacuum or
low-pressure packaged devices and also anchor damage causing
606 D. Fernández et al. / Microelectronics Reliability 51 (2011) 602–609

73.1

73

72.9
C [pF]

72.8

72.7
30 mBar
100 mBar
300 mBar
990 mBar
72.6
0 5 10 15 20
Time [µs]

Fig. 5. Transient capacitance change after a voltage step at t = 0 from V = 0 V to V = 14 V for different air pressures.

Fig. 6. Interferometer view of one arm of the electrostatic actuator used in the measures of Fig. 5. The measure was taken with the actuator in the on-rest position with
990 mbar.

uncharacteristic vibration modes. In order to obtain the transient
dynamic response, a very low-frequency square signal was used
as the modulation signal D while the output voltage VOUT was cap-
tured by an oscilloscope. This driving signal moves the actuator
from the on-rest position to a new equilibrium position deter-
mined by the electric force and the mechanical restoring force,
while ensuring no interference of the driving signal in the actuator
dynamics. Those interferences are particularly critical in low-
damped actuators since they can generate long transients in the
dynamics.
Fig. 5 shows measurements of an electrostatic actuator consist-
ing on a polysilicon membrane of 800 lm  800 lm with a 1.5 lm
thickness fabricated in the PolyMUMPs process. To enforce different
dynamic behaviors and observe them, the damping of the actuator
was changed by reducing the air pressure. A voltage step at t = 0
was applied to the actuator, making it move from the on-rest
position to the new equilibrium point. Measurement conditions
were VOH = 14 V and CS = 330 pF. As expected, the ringing around
this new equilibrium position increases as the pressure decreases.
It can also be observed that the amplitude of the higher-order
 D. Fernández et al. / Microelectronics Reliability 51 (2011) 602–609 607

C [pF]

20 mBar
30 mBar
100 mBar
300 mBar
990 mBar
0 20 40 60 80 100
Time [µs]

Fig. 7. Transient capacitance change after a voltage step at t = 0, revealing the dynamic pull-in behavior and the presence of two collapsed points.

8.5

7.5

6.5
C [pF]

5.5

4.5 10 mBar
30 mBar
4
100 mBar
300 mBar
990 mBar
3.5
0 20 40 60 80 100
Time [µs]

Fig. 8. Transient capacitance change after a voltage step at t = 0 from V = 0 V to V = 15 V for different air pressures, revealing the presence of two on-rest points.

vibration modes increases more rapidly than the lower-order ones,
due to the higher losses of the vibration modes in damped environ-
ments as the frequency increases. A spectral analysis of the capture
for 30 mbar reveals a main oscillation frequency of 330 kHz and a
third harmonic around 1 MHz. Note, however, that the capacitance
variation is very small compared to the capacitance of the actuator
(less than 300 fF of variation with respect to 73 pF). Those results
can be explained as a complete stiction of the membrane to the
bottom plate during the release process [18], leaving only the elec-
trostatic actuators arms free to move. This can be demonstrated by
taking an interferometer image of an actuator arm, as depicted in
Fig. 6. The image shows that the membrane is stuck to the bottom
plate (the substrate) and that the only parts free to move are the
membrane arms.
Fig. 7 shows measurements with different pressure levels of the
same electrostatic actuator of Figs. 2–4. Actuation voltage was set
slightly below of the pull-in voltage found in previous measures
and CS was set to 330 pF. Results show that the equilibrium posi-
tion is reached faster with a pressure of 300 mbar compared to
990 mbar, revealing an overdamped characteristic at ambient pres-
608 D. Fernández et al. / Microelectronics Reliability 51 (2011) 602–609
Fig. 9. Interferometer view of the electrostatic actuator used in the measures of Fig. 8. The measure was taken with the actuator in the on-rest position with 990 mbar.
sures. Also note that a dynamic pull-in phenomenon becomes
evident [19,20], which causes collapse of the actuator below the
pull-in voltage aided by the kinetic energy acquired before if the
pressure is low enough. Moreover, the existence of two collapsing
points are revealed, one that can be reached with pressures be-
tween 30 mbar and 100 mbar and other that can be reached with
pressures below 20 mbar. The second pull-in point is reached
when the movable plate of the actuator gains enough kinetic
energy to overcome any surface irregularities or anomalous mem-
brane bending so it touches more firmly the dielectric between the
plates.
Fig. 8 shows the behavior with different pressures of another
actuator, consisting on a gold over polysilicon membrane of
250 lm  250 lm with a 520 nm + 1.5 lm thickness fabricated in
the PolyMUMPs process. Measurement conditions were VOH = 15 V
and CS = 100 pF. Besides the reduction in the time required to reach
the equilibrium point as the pressure decreases in the range from
990 mbar to 100 mbar, it can be seen that with pressures below
30 mbar the actuator departs from another rest position with less
capacitance, that is, at more distance to the fixed plate than the
other. This is due to that with light pressure, the actuator gains en-
ough speed during the travel back to its on-rest position (when the
applied voltage is zero, that is, during t < 0), and then it can over-
come the lower on-rest position enforced by the stiction of small
regions of the membrane with the bottom plate. Fig. 9 shows an
interferometer image of this actuator in the on-rest position with
atmospheric air pressures, revealing a small contact region with
the bottom plate near the center. Presumably, when the actuator
moves in thin atmospheres, the kinetic energy of the free regions
of the membrane is enough to overcome the adhesion energy of
the sticky region, so the plates become completely separated and
the on-rest capacitance decreases, showing the second on-rest po-
sition that appears with low pressures.
4. Conclusions
In this paper we presented a capacitance estimation and driving
circuit for electrostatic actuators. The proposed approach does not
require any additional capacitive sensors anchored to the movable
structure and thereby, it can be readily used with any previously
designed electrostatic actuator. Due to its simplicity, it can be eas-
ily used as part of an integrated system for failure prediction and
detection or as a low-cost dynamics characterization system. Mea-
surements indicate bandwidths up to 40 MHz and the capability of
detecting actuator aging, stiction and failure, and also periodic and
non-periodic anomalous dynamics caused by damping changes,
residual stress or multiple equilibrium points.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported in part by the Spanish Ministry of
Education and Science under projects TEC2007-67144/MIC and
TEC2008-06028/TEC. Daniel Fernández holds a research fellowship
supported by the Catalan Department of Universities, Research and
Information Society (DURSI) and the European Social Fund (ESF).
The authors wish to thank M.Sc. student Jose Luis Casas for the
development of the printed circuit boards, Daniel Mitrani of the
Sensor Systems Group for his help taking measurements in the
vacuum chamber and the Micro and Nanotechnology Group for
providing the electrostatic actuators.
References
[1] Petersen KE. Micromechanical membrane switches on silicon. IBM J Res
Develop 1979;23(4):376–85.
[2] Young D, Boser B. A micromachine-based RF low-noise voltage-controlled
oscillator. In: Custom integrated circuits conference, Proceedings of the IEEE
1997, vol. 2; 1997. p. 431–4.
[3] Sugihwo F, Larson M, Harris J. Micromachined widely tunable vertical cavity
laser diodes. Microelectromech Syst J 1998;7(1):48–55.
[4] Vail E, Wu M, Li G, Eng L, Chang-Hasnain C. GaAs micromachined widely
tunable fabry-perot filters. Electron Lett 1995;31(3):228–9.
[5] Lu M-C, Fedder G. Position control of parallel-plate microactuators for probe-
based data storage. Microelectromech Syst J 2004;13(5):759–69.
[6] Senturia S. Microsystem design. Kluwer Academic; 2001.
[7] van Spengen MW. MEMS reliability from a failure mechanisms perspective.
Microelectron Reliab 2003;43(7):1049–60.
[8] Fernández D, Madrenas J, Domínguez M, Pons J, Ricart J. Pulse-drive and
capacitive measurement circuit for MEMS electrostatic actuators. Analog
Integrated Circuits and Signal Processing 2008;57(3):225–32.
[9] Laser measurement systems application note VIB-M-05, polytec GmbH, July
2006.
[10] van Spengen W, Puers R, Mertens R, De Wolf I. Experimental characterization
of stiction due to charging in RF MEMS. In: Puers R, editor, Electron devices
meeting, 2002. IEDM ’02. Digest international, 2002. p. 901–4.
 D. Fernández et al. / Microelectronics Reliability 51 (2011) 602–609
[11] Nadal-Guardia R, Dehe A, Aigner R, Castaner L. Current drive methods to
extend the range of travel of electrostatic microactuators beyond the voltage
pull-in point. Microelectromech Syst J 2002;11(3):255–63.
[12] De Wolf I, van Spengen W. Techniques to study the reliability of metal RF
MEMS capacitive switches. Microelectron Reliab 2002;42(9-11):1789–94.
[13] <http://www.ni.com/labview/>.
[14] Blaise G. Fundamental approach to the storage of energy in dielectrics. In:
Conduction and breakdown in solid dielectrics, 1995. ICSD’95, Proceedings of
the 1995 IEEE 5th international conference, 1995. p. 324–8.
[15] Molinero D, Comulada R, Castaner L. Dielectric charge measurements in
capacitive microelectromechanical switches. Appl Phys Lett 2006;89(10):
103506.
[16] <http://www.memscap.com/en_mumps.html>.
609
[17] van Spengen WM, Puers R, Mertens R, Wolf ID. A comprehensive model to
predict the charging and reliability of capacitive RF MEMS switches. J
Micromech Microeng 2004;14(4):514–21.
[18] Tas N, Sonnenberg T, Jansen H, Legtenberg R, Elwenspoek M. Stiction in surface
micromachining. J Micromech Microeng 1996;6(4):385–97.
[19] Varghese M, Amantea R, Sauer D, Senturia S. Resistive damping of pulse-
sensed capacitive position sensors. In: Amantea R, editor, Solid state sensors
and actuators, 1997. TRANSDUCERS ’97 Chicago., 1997 international
conference, vol. 2; 1997. p. 1121–4.
[20] Gupta R, Senturia S. Pull-in time dynamics as a measure of absolute pressure.
In: Micro electro mechanical systems, 1997. MEMS ’97. Proceedings, IEEE.,
tenth annual international workshop, 1997. p. 290–294.