A bi-stable silicon nanofin nanoelectromechanical switch based on van der Waals force for non-volatile memory applications

We present a silicon nanofin (Si-NF) which can be actuated bi-directionally by electrostatic force between two contact surfaces. The switch is able to maintain its contact leveraging on van der Waals force that holds the Si-NF to either terminal without on-hold bias, thus showing a bi-stable hystere...

Full description

Saved in:

Bibliographic Details
Published in:	The 8th Annual IEEE International Conference on Nano/Micro Engineered and Molecular Systems pp. 562 - 565
Main Authors:	Bo Woon Soon, Singh, Navab, Tsai, Julius Minglin, Chengkuo Lee
Format:	Conference Proceeding
Language:	English
Published:	IEEE 01-04-2013
Subjects:	Contacts Electrostatics Force Hysteresis Nanoelectromechanical systems NEMS non-volatile memory Nonvolatile memory NVM relay Silicon switch Switches
Online Access:	Get full text
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!

Description
Summary:	We present a silicon nanofin (Si-NF) which can be actuated bi-directionally by electrostatic force between two contact surfaces. The switch is able to maintain its contact leveraging on van der Waals force that holds the Si-NF to either terminal without on-hold bias, thus showing a bi-stable hysteresis behavior. The measured pull-in voltage V PI and VRESET is 10V and -12V respectively, confirming that the switch can be reset by the opposite electrode. Since the switch toggles between two stable states, therefore it can be an ideal device for non-volatile memory (NVM) application.
DOI:	10.1109/NEMS.2013.6559793