Electromechanical design space exploration for electrostatically actuated ohmic switches using extended parallel plate compact model

•An analytical compact model of a MEMS ohmic switch is developed and validated.•A switch design space exploration is performed based on the compact model.•A corresponding parameter extraction methodology is compiled.•The model is compared with numerical simulations and real measurements.•The compact model is verified for logic design and circuit level simulations.

The nanoscaled electrostatically actuated electromechanical ohmic switch is an emerging device with advanced performance in terms of ION/IOFFION/IOFF ratio. It is imperative that compact models accompany such novel devices in order to fully evaluate their potential at the circuit-level. A minimal, yet, adequate compact model is developed and analyzed in this work. Further, the model is used as a compass for switch design space exploration and, simultaneously, a corresponding parameter extraction methodology is compiled. The application on data from numerical simulations and on measurements of fabricated devices, verifies the potential of the model, while circuit-level simulations validate its robustness within an industrial IC design environment.