| CPC H01H 1/0237 (2013.01) [H01H 49/00 (2013.01); H01H 59/0009 (2013.01); H01L 21/00 (2013.01); B81C 1/0015 (2013.01); B81C 1/00166 (2013.01); B81C 1/00182 (2013.01); H01H 2001/0052 (2013.01)] | 13 Claims |

|
1. A switching apparatus, comprising:
an ohmic micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) switch device constructed on a substrate, the ohmic MEMS switch device having one or more contacts consisting of a platinum-group metal;
an oxidized layer of the platinum-group metal formed on an outer surface of each of the one or more contacts, and formed in a first processing chamber;
a cap bonded to the substrate in a second processing chamber that is separate from the first processing chamber, to form a hermetically sealed cavity that encloses the ohmic MEMS switch device, a cavity atmosphere within the sealed cavity that is substantially the same as a bonding atmosphere and has a proportion of oxygen within a range of 0.05% to 30%.
|