Title :
A Bistable Electrostatic Silicon Nanofin Relay for Nonvolatile Memory Application
Author :
Bowoon Soon ; Ng, Eldwin Jiaqiang ; Singh, Navab ; Tsai, Julius Minglin ; You Qian ; Chengkuo Le
Author_Institution :
Inst. of Microelectron., Agency for Sci., Technol. & Res., Singapore, Singapore
Abstract :
We present a nanoelectromechanical (NEM) relay that is capable of demonstrating two stable states without on-hold power due to the influence of van der Waals force. This is realized by leveraging a silicon nanofin (SiNF) as a relay that can switch between two lateral terminals. The smallest dimension of the SiNF is 80-nm width by 2- μm length. The SiNF is able to maintain its geometrical position even after the bias voltage is turned off. Bistable hysteresis behavior with pull-in voltage (VPI) and reset voltage (VRESET) as low as 8.4 and 10.1 V is measured. The nanoscale footprint of this device shows great potential for high-density nonvolatile memory applications.
Keywords :
electrostatic devices; elemental semiconductors; nanoelectromechanical devices; nanofabrication; nanostructured materials; random-access storage; semiconductor relays; silicon; NEM relay; Si; SiNF; bistable electrostatic silicon nanofin relay; bistable hysteresis behavior; geometrical position; high-density nonvolatile memory application; nanoelectromechanical relay; pull-in voltage; reset voltage; size 2 mum; size 80 nm; van der Waals force; voltage measurement; Bistable; Nanoelectromechanical systems; electrostatic; nonvolatile memory; relay; switch; van der Waals;
Journal_Title :
Microelectromechanical Systems, Journal of
DOI :
10.1109/JMEMS.2013.2266859
