New miniature coaxial reed relay for high-speed RF systems

Pickering Electronics has released new miniature coaxial reed relays for high-frequency RF systems up to 3GHz. Series 113RF SIL/SIP reed relays provide a 2mm spacing footprint, allowing them to be stacked at extremely high densities.

When asked: “When would reed relays be the best solution for RF and high speed, digital switching systems?” Kevin Mallett, technical specialist at Pickering Electronics, answered: “These small, screened reed relays are faster and smaller than electromechanical relays (EMR), have a lower insertion loss and better DC capabilities than solid state relays (SSR), and better hot switching performance than micro-electromechanical machine (MEM) products.”

Series 113RF reed relays are suitable for switching up to 10W, 0.5A. 1 Form A configurations (SPST normally open) are available with 3V or 5V coils with coil resistances of up to 100/300-Ohms, respectively.

At low levels, the typical life expectancy of Series 113RF reed relays is greater than 250 million reliable operations. The relays employ the highest quality instrumentation grade reed switches with sputtered ruthenium contacts and are ideal for automatic test equipment.

All Series 113RF reed relays feature an internal mu-metal magnetic screen to enable high-density stacking of relays without the risk of adjacent devices interfering with each other resulting in faulty operation.

Pickering now offers a coaxial RF option in many small instrumentation reed relay ranges, up to 5GHz. More information on the new 3GHz 113RF is available here.