Body-Biased Multiple-Gate Micro-Electro-Mechanical Relays

• Published in: IEEE electron device letters 2021-03, Vol.42 (3), p.402-405
• Main Authors: Ye, Zhixin A., Almeida, Sergio F., Sikder, Urmita, Hu, Xiaoer, Esatu, Tsegereda K., Le, Kathy, Jeon, Jaeseok, Liu, Tsu-Jae King
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Actuation; Bias; body-bias; Circuit design; Electric potential; Electrodes; Electrostatics; Force; Logic circuits; Logic gates; MEMS; multiple inputs; Relay; Relays; Switches; Switching; Voltage; Voltage measurement
• ISSN: 0741-3106; 1558-0563
• DOI: 10.1109/LED.2021.3050981

Micro-electro-mechanical relays with multiple gate electrodes ( i.e ., multiple input voltage signals), operated with a tunable body bias voltage, are investigated for more compact and energy-efficient implementation of digital logic circuits. Specifically, a relay design with three gate electrodes of equal area is demonstrated to be capable of performing different digital logic functions for the same input operating voltage ( {V} _{\textbf {DD}} ), by adjusting the body bias voltage. Since the lower limit for {V} _{\textbf {DD}} is equal to the switching hysteresis voltage ( {V} _{\textbf {H}} ), the magnitude of {V} _{\textbf {H}} is investigated for different combinations of transitioning input voltage signals. It is found that {V} _{\textbf {H}} is larger for fewer transitioning input voltage signals, i.e. , reduced effective actuation area of the switching input voltage signal. This can set a practical upper limit for the number of independent gates in a single relay.